I’ve been looking forward to today since I saw in our calendar that little Rahaf would be coming for her first follow-up echo since surgery. It seems that her grandma was excited too, as she eagerly greeted all of us and couldn’t wait to see all her friends at Sheba Hospital.
Rahaf has gotten so big in the last month! She was still pretty tiny when we brought her back to the border after surgery a few weeks ago, but she’s gained more than a kilo since then and now has chubby cheeks and a double chin.
She kept us entertained with her wide range of facial expressions before and after her echo.
We’re so glad to hear that Rahaf’s echo looks good! There is good blood flow through her aortic arch, which was repaired in surgery. She has a small VSD but her cardiologist is confident that this will close on its own as she gets bigger.
After the echo, we shared lunch with some of the moms Rahaf’s grandma knows from her hospital stay, and then headed back to the border.
We’ll see Rahaf again in two months when she returns for her next echo.
Today our cute little girl was finally discharged from the Sheba Hospital. Her grandmother couldn’t have been happier as she was waiting to finally go home and spend the rest of Ramadan with her family. Rahaf is such a cute little girl and it’s always so special to see a child for the first time out of their room in the ICU. She is still so tiny and we loved it to hold the little girl in our arms.
Rahaf will come back in one month for another echo and until then we pray that she will have a blessed life with her family.
Rahaf is extubated! She is doing really well. She only needs a little bit of oxygen support. Her grandmother is happy that she is doing so well and hopes to be able to go home soon, because her own mother died a couple of days ago.
Please pray for a good recovery for Rahaf and for her grandmother who is happy for her granddaughter and sad about her mother passing at the same time.
A couple of Gaza mothers gave support to this grandmother in a waiting area of Sheba Hospital. They said that even though she wasn’t there when her mother died, she was there for her granddaughter who will have her whole life in front of her, God willing.
When I sat with Rahaf’s grandmother today she proudly told me that Rahaf had her surgery today and is doing good. First I thought something got lost in translation because my Arabic language skills are not really existent, but when I came into her room, the nurse confirmed that she had successful surgery this morning. They took her in for surgery at seven and she was all done already two hours later. The surgery went without complications and they were able to fix her interrupted aortic arch by connecting the two ends of the aorta that weren’t connected before. She is doing very well after surgery and maybe even can get extubated in the next days. When her grandmother and I stood besides her bed, she opened her eyes a little bit and looked around the room before she fell asleep again to rest some more after this exhausting day.
Let us pray for her further recovery and thank the Lord for everything he has done for her today and in the days since she was born into this world.
Rahaf who is just a few weeks old arrived today together with her grandmother in an ambulance from Gaza. The doctors and nurses in the Pediatric ICU at Sheba Hospital checked her and ran a few tests which showed that she has Coarctation of the Aorta. She is now stable, intubated and receiving medication as a first treatment.
The doctor couldn’t tell me anything specific about a surgery or treatment plans for her. For now they want to see how Rahaf’s heart reacts to the medicine she is getting and in what way it is helping her.
Rahaf’s grandmother was really worried and afraid of what could happen to Rahaf. She and her granddaughter had just arrived; probably this is grandmother’s first time in Israel, in an Israeli hospital, and she didn’t seem to know what was going on. Also it took a long time until she was allowed to go inside Rahaf’s room. And even then she didn’t go directly to the bed to see Rahaf, but quietly sat on a chair looking over to the bed while tears ran down her face.
Please pray for Rahaf and the doctors who are treating her. Please also pray for her grandmother who has just arrived in a completely different environment. The next weeks won’t be easy for either of them, but they will have us volunteers and you in prayers on their side.
I’ve been looking forward to today since I saw in our calendar that little Rahaf would be coming for her first follow-up echo since surgery. It seems that her grandma was excited too, as she eagerly greeted all of us and couldn’t wait to see all her friends at Sheba Hospital.
Rahaf has gotten so big in the last month! She was still pretty tiny when we brought her back to the border after surgery a few weeks ago, but she’s gained more than a kilo since then and now has chubby cheeks and a double chin.
She kept us entertained with her wide range of facial expressions before and after her echo.
We’re so glad to hear that Rahaf’s echo looks good! There is good blood flow through her aortic arch, which was repaired in surgery. She has a small VSD but her cardiologist is confident that this will close on its own as she gets bigger.
After the echo, we shared lunch with some of the moms Rahaf’s grandma knows from her hospital stay, and then headed back to the border.
We’ll see Rahaf again in two months when she returns for her next echo.
