This evening, four months after their arrival in Israel, our sweet Mariya and her mother are boarding their flight back home to Kurdistan.
Mariya had her final consultation with the nephrologist today and he echoed the urologist earlier this week– for now, Mariya’s kidneys are fine, and surgery will only be needed in the future if there is a major problem.
Little Mariya has come a long way in the last four months. Her mom and I have been sharing lots of photos with each other from our time together, and we can’t believe how tiny Mariya was when we first met and how much healthier she is now. At the airport tonight, her mom told me how this flight will be so much better because Mariya doesn’t need an oxygen tube anymore.
Thanks be to God for his healing work in Mariya’s life.
Our last few moments together at the airport were emotional as we said goodbye after four months together. Mariya was the first Kurdish baby I visited in the hospital after arriving at Shevet, and her mom has been such a good friend to me and all of us in our time together.
As we hugged goodbye just before the security line, we told each other over and over, “You’re my sister now.”
While the goodbye is hard, I’m so glad to be sending Mariya home to her dad and big sister with a healed heart, chubby cheeks, and a beautiful grin full of six new teeth.
It’s been a beautiful blessing to have these few months with this sweet girl and her mother, and I’m forever grateful for God’s goodness in bringing us together.
Yesterday, after four months in Israel, beautiful Mariya was cleared to return to Kurdistan. Her ENT doctor said there is no problem with the physiology of her throat, so the noisy breathing her mom has been worried about should improve as Mariya grows.
Later, Mariya’s urologist explained that Mariya has a cyst on her left kidney, but it is not impairing the function of the kidney at all so it is safe for her to go home without intervention. Mariya will have one final consultation with a nephrologist on Wednesday and, Lord willing, will fly home Wednesday night.
Today, coworker Joanne and I took Mariya and her mom to Jerusalem for the day. We visited the Garden Tomb, and then headed to the Old City for shopping in the bazaar.
For Mariya and her mom, the excursion included a trip to the mosque.
Mariya’s mom is truly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Yesterday, she told me she’s happy to go home but she’s sad to leave all of us because we are like sisters to her, and after visiting the mosque today, she told me she prayed for all of us at Shevet Achim. I’m so grateful for the time we’ve spent with her and her sweet little girl here in Israel.
Praise God for his love and care for these two beautiful souls.
Today, beautiful Mariya was discharged from Sheba hospital after a test for her kidneys this morning. The test results aren’t back yet, but she will have an appointment with the nephrologist within the next week or so to discuss her condition.
While waiting for her discharge report, Mariya got a special visit from Mizgeen, who played with her for quite some time while her mom and I talked. It’s good to see the relationships they’ve formed in their time together at the hospital.
Today’s discharge brings Mariya one step closer to going home to Kurdistan. Her mom is very hopeful that this will have been her last hospital stay in Israel. She will need follow up appointments with the nephrologist, urologist, and ENT doctor in the coming days and we pray she can go home to her dad and big sister after these checkups.
In the morning, co-worker Joanne and I went to Sheba Hospital to the Pediatric Eating Disorder Clinic for a meeting.
Mariya’s mom asked the medical staff to continue Mariya’s treatment for her eating disorders in Kurdistan, as Shevet Achim has already purchased a feeding machine that she could take with her to Kurdistan. Mariya’s mom told me she has a five year old girl waiting for her at home and it is difficult being away so long.
Later in the day, Mariya was admitted again to the hospital in order to prepare her for a kidney test tomorrow. It was a busy day and Mariya’s mom helped us translate because she speaks Kurdish and Arabic. She was told, on the part of the cardiologist and the eating disorder doctors, she can go back to Kurdistan.
It took Maria a long time to get admitted to the ward, we waited until late. We hope that the test result tomorrow will be good and that Mariya and her family will be healthy and happy and packing for their trip home!
Sweet Mariya had another appointment at the Eating Disorder Clinic in Sheba Medical Center this morning. Coworker Moshe joined her and her mother for the appointment.
Mariya has slowly begun to eat through her mouth, but she came down with a virus this week that caused her to vomit and this made her afraid to eat again. She was getting dehydrated without the NG tube so they reinserted it.
However, her next treatments can be done on an outpatient basis, so after two months in the hospital, Mariya was discharged to our home in Jaffa tonight. This is very exciting for her mother, as well as for us.
As we left the pediatric ward, several doctors and nurses waved and blew kisses to Mariya and her mom as they passed by. Her mom told me Mariya is friends with all the doctors and nurses on the floor. It’s beautiful to see their love for this little girl, as well as her mother’s heartfelt gratitude for them after such a long and challenging time in the hospital.
Mariya and her mom are good friends to all of us here in Jaffa and we’re looking forward to spending time with them in the coming days!
Mariya is continuing her time in Sheba hospital. She is seeing a specialist for eating difficulties every week; the doctors did try to remove the feeding tube, but after twenty four hours, she was dehydrated because she could not drink enough milk, so they had to put in he NG tube once again.
She is also particularly susceptible to viruses in the hospital, so please be praying for her, and that soon she would be able to be released from the hospital, although it is a blessing that she can do many of the specialist appointments as an inpatient that otherwise would have been scheduled months into the future.
Today is special because it’s Mariya’s birthday. Twice today, many doctors discussed this little girl’s case. Yesterday, she had a fluoroscopy procedure and today we had an appointment in the Eating Disorder Clinic, where coworker Moshe helped us a lot with translation.
Because of these results, and also based on Mariya’s weight gain improvement, her willingness to eat and drink milk via mouth, the doctors are very optimistic. They even plan to remove the tube very soon.
Also the doctors want Mariya to eat food via mouth and will watch how her body reacts to this. It’s clear that there is no surgery needed, but she has to stay in the hospital for at least one week. Mariya’s mother hopes that she can come to our community home in Jaffa again as soon as possible.
So let’s pray for a little more patience, although it’s been needed for a long time. Mariya and her mother still need our prayers, but let’s thank God for the improvements in Mariya, evident from today’s appointments.
The potential plan for today was for Mariya to be discharged from Sheba Medical Center to our community home in Jaffa. Those plans got changed, but truly for the better!
Mariya still has the feeding tube and is unable to eat otherwise. Mariya’s doctor was able to schedule a nephrology appointment for Mariya tomorrow (there wasn’t an opening till February initially). Then on Thursday she will be having a urology appointment. Hopefully next Tuesday, she will have an appointment at the Eating Disorder Clinic. Then hopefully next Tuesday, she will have an appointment at the Eating Disorder Clinic.
These are all appointments that God and the staff of Sheba truly provided a way for her to have. Thank the Lord for his provision.
This morning, coworker Rachel and I were excited to find Mariya happy and feeling well. She has been without a fever all weekend, and if her echo tomorrow is good, the doctors would like to discharge her to Jaffa this week.
It’s good to see Mariya feeling so well after several weeks of fevers. She loves watching videos of her big sister back home, and she’s learning to blow kisses, which always makes her mother giggle. Her mom was also in good spirits today; when I asked how she’s doing, she told me in Arabic, “Mariya is well, so I am well.”
Beautiful little Mariya has now been at Sheba hospital for over a month since her surgery. Thanks be to God, her heart is in very good condition now. The doctor on the pediatric ward shared that the cardiology team is ready to discharge her to return home. However, she still has some other health challenges, including a problem with her kidneys and an inability to eat without an NG tube.
Please pray for wisdom for the doctors going forward and for complete healing for sweet Mariya.
Unfortunately Mariya is not getting over her infection. She was running a fever today, and her breathing is very intense. You can really see that she is struggling with something.
This Wednesday, Mariya will be checked by doctors at Sheba hospital; they want to understand what is causing the fevers and other difficulties she is experiencing.
Mariya’s mother says she is doing okay. But it must be hard to be in the hospital for a long time without any progress.
Please pray for Mariya’s health, that God will give her the strength to overcome the infection. We know that with God nothing is impossible.
When I visited little Mariya at Sheba hospital, she was crying the whole time and her mother confirmed that this is her normal status currently. Mariya also doesn’t sleep very well either. It breaks my heart to hear this and I really hope that it gets better. We talked about the other discharges and really hope that Mariah will be one of them soon.
When I talked to the doctor, it didn’t seem that it would be soon. Although her heart is okay, Mariya receives her milk through a tube and because of an infection, she is taking antibiotics.
Please pray for patience for her mother and healing for sweet Mariya.
Mariya was doing well at Sheba hospital today. Her mother was very happy. The doctor said that the condition of Mariya’s heart is perfect and she could be discharged to Jaffa. But the thing that’s holding her back, is that Mariya can’t eat normally, only through her feeding tube. She needs to be trained to be able to eat.
Unfortunately, there has been opportunity for some training as yet, so please pray that the dietitian will have an open schedule soon to help Mariya re-learn to eat normally.
We hope that she can be discharged soon, so that we can enjoy her smile and her lovely mother in Jaffa again.
Since beginning to run a fever almost a week ago, Mariya has not been her usual cheerful self. Yesterday, when I stopped by Sheba hospital briefly to say hello, I learned that Mariya was having stomach problems and had not been able to have milk for a couple of days. Her eyes and cheeks looked a bit sunken, and her mom told me Mariya was unhappy all the time because she didn’t feel well.
You can imagine, then, what a welcome surprise it was this afternoon, when I found Mariya wide awake and happily drinking milk. Even better, her mom was feeding her through a bottle, and the NG tube she’s had for months is gone! The doctor said she is much better today, and they are working to help her relearn how to eat without the tube.
Mariya’s mom was absolutely elated by her sweet girl’s recovery and so excited to show me how Mariya can drink from a bottle now. She told me over and over that Mariya is good now, so she is good too and everything is okay. Praise God for Mariya’s recovery, and please pray she will adjust well to eating without her NG tube.
Today, I found our normally cheerful, giggly Mariya very solemn and subdued. She has just started running a fever, and while the doctors are waiting on blood test results, they’ve started her on antibiotics immediately in case of infection. This is disappointing news for her mother, who has been so pleased with Mariya’s smooth recovery so far.
I always look forward to visiting Mariya and her mother and I try to stop by at least for a couple of minutes every time I’m at Sheba hospital. She has been moved to a different floor and I was happy to see that her new room is right next door to a couple of other Shevet babies. I’m grateful that her mother will have good company while she waits for Mariya’s test results.
Please pray that whatever is causing the fever will be minor and easily treatable, and for Mariya’s mother, who is quite worried about her baby girl.
Rachel and I visited Mariya and her mother today. It was very nice to see her, because we already got to know each other in the guesthouse in Jaffa.
She was very cute today. We were able to talk to her mother, although our Kurdish is not the best yet. She told us that Mariya is doing very well, but crying a lot. The doctors explained that they are giving her the medicine that is needed, and Mariya is getting better and better. They will extubate her soon. This is great news and we thank our Lord. Please pray that the positive developments for little Mariya continue and that she will get more used to being in the hospital.
Praise be to God for a successful surgery for Mariya today! As of last night, the doctors were unsure as to whether they would perform the surgery today. But coworker Rachel and I arrived at Sheba hospital first thing this morning to find that Mariya had gone into surgery just minutes earlier.
Waiting with a mother during her child’s surgery is a unique experience in how anxious, yet beautiful a time it can be. Today was no exception. During the four hours Mariya was in surgery, I sat with her mother while she cried, giggled over pictures of Mariya, called friends and family back home for support, and again and again, lifted her face and whispered prayers for her baby girl.
Neither one of us could stop smiling when the doctor came out to say the surgery was over and successful. She turned and gave me the biggest hug, repeating, “alhamdulillah!” (praise be to God) over and over. When she saw I was starting to cry, she burst out laughing and kept saying, “No, no, it’s okay now!”
She was overjoyed to see Mariya after surgery, but it was a bit startling for her as well. The doctors had not yet removed the chest tube or breathing tube, and I can only imagine how jarring it must be for her to see her lively, happy baby girl lying still and connected to all those machines. When I stopped by again later, though, she was settling into the room in the ICU and full of exuberant joy over her sweet girl.
Thanks be to God for Mariya’s successful surgery and his immeasurable love for this precious little girl!
Mariya had quite a long day at Sheba hospital today. This morning, she had an appointment with a doctor in the gastroenterology clinic in the hope that we could find out why she’s still struggling to keep milk down.
Thankfully, the doctor’s report was encouraging. Mariya is gaining weight at a good pace and there doesn’t seem to be an underlying health condition behind her current situation. Instead, he suspects that her body just needs to “relearn” how to process food after being fed through an NG tube for the last seven months. He advised a consultation with a dietician and seemed confident that Mariya’s condition will improve.
As we finished the appointment in the gastro clinic, coworker Alena called me with the news that Mariya would be admitted to Sheba today and possibly have her surgery tomorrow. Mariya’s mother and I took her up to the cardiology department for an ECG and corona test, and after a long afternoon of waiting, Mariya was admitted to the hospital this evening. If there is a room open in the ICU tomorrow, Mariya will be taken into surgery tomorrow morning. Please pray that this is possible.
I really enjoyed spending the day with Mariya and her mother, who has such a sweet and beautiful heart. She’s always eager to teach me new words in Kurdish and Arabic, and we had some good laughs over our struggle to communicate via Google Translate.
It’s beautiful to see her tender love for her baby girl in the way she holds Mariya’s tiny hands in hers or hugs her close and whispers her name over and over.
Lastly, thank God for an exceptionally kind and helpful medical team today. From the very friendly gastroenterologist to the nurse who took the time to discuss a favorite singer with Mariya’s mother, the Sheba staff was warm and welcoming.
Since yesterday, Mariya couldn’t hold food in her stomach. Because she had a stomach surgery back in Kurdistan, we decided to take her to Sheba hospital’s ER after 24 hours and still nothing had changed.
The doctors checked Mariya’s saturation, blood pressure, a blood test, an x-ray and an ultrasound. The doctor couldn’t find anything significant to this problem, so after a few hours they released her to go back to Jaffa.
Mariya’s mother was very patient and nice during our time in the ER. She is a lovely woman with a lovely child. Please pray that Mariya’s stomach becomes calm. Also we thank God that the doctors didn’t find anything worrying.
Sweet Mariya was all smiles today for her release from the hospital. After a series of test and examinations at Sheba, she and her mother were welcomed into our home in Jaffa this evening. Her mother was so excited to leave the hospital with her little girl, and waited very patiently through a series of delays in the afternoon.
Mariya was in such a good mood all afternoon and was delighted to make friends with little Mohammed M. from across the hall. Her smiles and giggles brought so much joy to her mother.
Please pray for Mariya’s health as well as patience and strength for her mother during this next month as they wait for her next appointment.
Additionally, please pray that the two of them will have a relaxing month here in Jaffa with the other families as they await Mariya’s surgery.
Since arriving to Sheba hospital on Friday, Mariya has undergone multiple exams during her hospitalization. The cardiologist had seen her on Saturday, and she had another echo since then.
Her mum is doing very well in the hospital as the doctors continue to run tests on little Mariya. Mariya is able to be without oxygen at this point, so that’s good news.
Please pray as the examination process continues before Mariya’s surgery.
Mariya arrived in Israel yesterday along with her mother and a group of other Kurdish families. We welcome them all.
Mariya is an eight month old girl from Kirkuk in Iraq. She was diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta, a very severe form of a congenital heart defect, in which her major artery supplying oxygenated blood to all her body is significantly narrowed.
Mariya and her mother even traveled to Turkey for help. Finally, a local doctor and a visiting doctor to Kurdistan, performed a balloon angioplasty to help open this narrowing. Now she needs intervention again, as this artery is narrowed. She requires oxygen at home. Without this supplemental oxygen, her oxygen levels decrease significantly. She also has a nasogastric tube because she has difficulties with swallowing.
Due to her complexities, we have advocated for Mariya to be directly admitted to the hospital. Please pray for Mariya and her mother as they adjust to the hospital.
This evening, four months after their arrival in Israel, our sweet Mariya and her mother are boarding their flight back home to Kurdistan.
Mariya had her final consultation with the nephrologist today and he echoed the urologist earlier this week– for now, Mariya’s kidneys are fine, and surgery will only be needed in the future if there is a major problem.
Our last few moments together at the airport were emotional as we said goodbye after four months together. Mariya was the first Kurdish baby I visited in the hospital after arriving at Shevet, and her mom has been such a good friend to me and all of us in our time together.
While the goodbye is hard, I’m so glad to be sending Mariya home to her dad and big sister with a healed heart, chubby cheeks, and a beautiful grin full of six new teeth.
Our last few moments together at the airport were emotional as we said goodbye after four months together. Mariya was the first Kurdish baby I visited in the hospital after arriving at Shevet, and her mom has been such a good friend to me and all of us in our time together.
While the goodbye is hard, I’m so glad to be sending Mariya home to her dad and big sister with a healed heart, chubby cheeks, and a beautiful grin full of six new teeth.
