We said goodbye to our sweet adorable Shan and her amazing mother this afternoon. After only a little over a month in Israel, Shan has had her surgery, recovered well, and now can return to her home in Kurdistan. Her mother is very glad to be going home to her husband, and I’m sure that Shan will also be pleased to see her father. Of course, our joyful little girl is hardly ever displeased about anything.
Over the past weeks we’ve had Shan and her mother in our Jerusalem guest house, I’ve been surprised again and again by what a happy baby Shan is. She hardly ever cries, and will smile and giggle at the slightest provocation. She’s six months old now, a happy pink baby. At her goodbye party last night, Shan’s mom shared that she had never imagined her baby could be so pink. When Shan first came, her lips and eyelids and fingernails were a deep purple – but now they are a beautiful pink!
It has been an incredible blessing to meet Shan and her mother. Shan’s mother is an amazing woman. When one of the other Kurdish mothers lost her child in the hospital, Shan’s mom left Shan with another mother and came right away to support and encourage the mother in the hospital during this horribly difficult time. She was the perfect person to comfort the other mother in her loss – she sacrificed many hours of sleep and rest to support the other mother while she was waiting to return home.
Shan’s mother always said during those weeks in the hospital, “As long as Shan is okay, I’m okay.” She is such a wonderful mother to Shan.
At Shan’s farewell party, her mother also shared that she had come to Israel for her daughter’s surgery never expecting to find kindness in the people here. However, she was so happy and surprised to find care and support from both Shevet volunteers and doctors. She said that we were like family to her. We will miss both of them greatly – but we rejoice that they can return home in joy.
Please pray that Shan will continue to grow in grace and health, and that the love these two have felt here at Shevet will follow them home and continue to bless them and draw them nearer to our Lord.
After two weeks of staying with us in our guesthouse in Jerusalem, Shan had her echo today at Hadassah Hospital. After her doctor saw the echo and how well she is doing, he told us the good news that she is ready to go back home to Kurdistan. She improved so well after her surgery and was a smiling blessing for us in the house. We are so happy that she finished her treatment and only needs to see a cardiologist in Kurdistan for her check ups.
Shan is sometimes still breathing really hard and her mother is still a little worried about her. After asking the doctor about this, he explained that her lungs are still in a bad condition as her heart defect also had impact on her lungs. But through the medication which she gets now, she will get better. Of course it will take some time as she only got treatment and her surgery when she was already five months old.
Praise the Lord for the healing of Shan and her extremely good recovery after the surgery. We are so thankful that Shan can finally go back to Kurdistan and that everything went so well with her treatment. Please continue to pray for her and her mother who will fly back home on Thursday. May the Lord bless them and give Shan good health so that she can grow up well.
Early this morning, Shan’s doctors told us already that she would be discharged from Hadassah Hospital today. Her doctor still had to write the report. In the meantime I enjoyed my time with Shan and her mother. Not only did her mother teach me a few new words in Arabic, but it was also great to see Shan in her normal very happy and lively mood.
Since it was really difficult to get all of Shan’s medication on time, her nurses were so friendly and gave us all her medications until Sunday. Her mom was still a little worried about Shan and if she’s ready to leave the hospital. But after her doctor told her that she can be assured that everything is fine and after I also encouraged her, she was okay to come with us to our guesthouse. In the end, it turned out to be a long day and we were both really glad to be finally at home.
And as soon as we arrived in the guesthouse, Shan’s mother immediately made herself at home and could finally relax a bit after nearly one month in Hadassah. It is so great to have them here with us, to see Shan’s smile every time you walk by, to see Shan’s mother calming down from a long time in the hospital.
Let’s give thanks to the Lord, that Shan and her mother could finally get out of the hospital. Please pray for the next Echo, that everything goes well and they can hopefully leave after that.
When I visited Shan and her mother today at Hadassah hospital, her mother told me already that they might not go back to our guest house today since Shan had a really high blood pressure yesterday.
For some time I stayed with them to get to know them better since it was my first time meeting them. Shan and I had a lot of fun together and she couldn’t stop smiling every time I cuddled her with her animal toy.
After a while, the doctors finally visited Shan and decided that it was too early to discharge her. Even so, she is improving. They really want to make sure that she is alright. For that reason she might even stay a few more days.
When I asked Shan’s mom later if she had a problem with this, because she might have wanted to go back to our guesthouse in Jerusalem, she answered that she is okay and can stay even longer in hospital as long as Shan is fine. Thankfully, Shan is really doing good and is recovering well from her surgery.
Please continue to pray for our little Shan and her full recovery, so that we can have her soon back in our house and enjoy her beautiful smile even more. Hopefully Shan can be discharged soon and the other families in our guesthouse can finally meet her and her mother again.
Two phrases could define how Shan is now. One is from Shan’s mom: “She is pink and now I realized how beautiful my daughter is, before I only focused on her bluish face.”
The other statement is from the doctor: “She is doing amazing, she’s growing more than we expected.”
Shan had been given a little oxygen support the last few days, but today they stopped it because she doesn’t need it anymore and as you can see. Shan has been growing and gaining weight. The doctor is very happy with her improvement and her mom also.
Shan’s mom is surprised how much her appetite has increased, and the good naptimes she is having; Shan’s continued good recovery and progress is the reason they are considering discharging her on Sunday.
Shan’s doctor is just an amazing person, she is personally going to Shan’s room so often and is talking with Shan and expressing her feelings about Shan’s welfare and how much effort everyone is putting in so Shan can be okay; the doctor also took time to talk with Shan’s mother. She told me that Shan’s mom speaks Arabic and some English, so they are able to communicate with each other.
I truly think the passion and love this doctor gives to others is a gift of God, she’s huge a blessing for the patients and for us. Praise God for those people He puts in our path. As the doctor says, “Look how many people love you and want you to be okay.“
When I came to visit Shan in the Pediatric ICU of Hadassah Hospital, I was a little surprised to find her room empty. A helpful nurse walking by, smiled at me, and told me that Shan had been moved to the normal pediatric ward that morning.
I found her back in the same room that she had been in before her surgery, still in isolation but doing well. I went in with two friendly nurses, and watched them clean her surgery site and change her bandages. Shan’s mom wanted to know how much longer Shan needs to stay in the hospital, so I asked them. They told me that she is still reliant on the supplemental oxygen, which Shan is now receiving through a large tube that releases the oxygen into the air around her.
Hopefully, after a few days, Shan can be weaned off the oxygen support, but she needs it for now. The nurses told me that after she is off of oxygen support, they have to watch her for a few more days, and then they could possibly think about discharging her. But they want to move slowly, and make sure that she is fully ready for each new step.
Please pray that Shan will continue to recover well, and that God will give her mother strength to endure this long hospital stay, but how thankful we are for a careful medical staff at Hadassah Hospital.
Little Shan was very happy when I came to Hadassah Hospital to visit her today.
She was cheerfully waving her arms and legs, and giggling adorably when her mother talked to her.
Her oxygen was still at 100%, though it had a short and easily resolved drop while I was there.
Her doctor told me that she was well enough to be moved to the ordinary pediatric ward, but that there aren’t any rooms available yet.
For now, Shan is happy to remain in the ICU, charming all the doctors and nurses with her beautiful smile and big dark eyes. Praise God for this lovely little girl!
Our cute Shan is recovering very well at Hadassah Hospital. Her mother was very happy today to call her family and show them how well Shan is doing. Shan’s breathing has been a bit labored, and she sometimes has a bit of difficulty breathing, but her nurse said that this is normal after being intubated, and that her breathing should normalize after a couple of days.
Shan is still on nasal oxygen, not because she has any problem in her heart, but to help her breathe more normally. The doctor told us that Shan’s most recent echo showed a small hole in her heart, but that it will not need surgery and will most likely close on it’s own as Shan grows.
Today, Shan’s arms were swaddled tightly to her sides because she doesn’t like having the bandage on her chest and always tries to tear it off. She isn’t particularly happy about being bound in this way, but she always calmed down when her mother stroked her head and spoke quietly to her. Praise God for her good improvement!
Please pray that her breathing will improve, and that Shan can soon come off of nasal oxygen.
Shan is having a good progress after her surgery yesterday morning at Hadassah Hospital. When we visited her at the PICU, we found her extubated and awake, without any blue tinge to her body.
According to Shan’s Mom, the doctors told her she is having a good recovery and it will be fast because she is in the perfect age to heal faster.
Shan is receiving some oxygen support, and during our visit, her numbers turned red and the machine was beeping. I explained to her that the number was pointing to Shan’s blood pressure and was low. After a few minutes and some visits from different doctors, they decided even when the rate wasn’t very low, they preferred to give Shan some medication to stabilize her blood pressure.
Please continue to pray for Shan and her Mom, who is still nervous about her daughter. Our prayer is that through Shan’s improvement, we can glorify Him as Jesus said,
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Perfectly Pink! or "All went perfectly smooth with the patient."
Posted by Petra
At eight o’clock this morning, little Shan went in for a big surgery at Hadassah Hospital. The doctors planned to switch the two largest arteries in her heart and close a large hole between her ventricles. They told her mother this surgery would likely take six or seven hours.
Far below ground level, on the negative 4th floor of Hadassah hospital, Shan’s mother waited patiently in the surgery waiting room. I wasn’t able to wait with her the whole time, as some of our other children here also needed visits, so I went up and down in the hospital a lot.
After about five and a half hours, while I was walking down a staircase, I suddenly met Professor Sarraf, the surgeon, talking on the phone. He recognized me as someone from Shevet, quickly looked up from his phone call, and said, “All went smooth with the patient.” Then he continued on his way.
I immediately went down to be with Shan’s mother, and after two more hours, we got the news that Shan was entirely stabilized in her room. Her mother and I went in to see her right away.
It was very difficult for Shan’s mother to see her beloved baby sedated with tubes coming out of her everywhere. The doctors told us that everything went very well, and that they had done both of the things they’d wanted to do. There was more good news too – Shan’s oxygen, which has normally been hovering around 60%, was at 100%. Her lips were no longer purple, and the bottoms of her feet were a beautiful pink. I’ve never seen a baby look so good right after surgery! She does have some bleeding, which is normal after such a big surgery, but this should stop soon.
Please be praying for her to remain stable over these next few days. The doctors hope to extubate her tomorrow if she continues to do as well as she is doing now. After that, they will look to see if she will need any more surgeries in the future.
Sweet Shan is going to have surgery tomorrow morning. Her mother is very glad that Shan is ready for surgery, though of course she is also worried about her. This will be a very big surgery for Shan. Her doctor told me that they will be doing the full arterial switch, and they will also attempt to close a hole between the lower chambers of her heart.
This is a huge surgery, and she needs a lot of prayer. Shan was her normal cheerful self today (except for when a nurse gave her medicine through her IV), and played happily with a rattle her mom gave her while opening her big brown eyes wide.
Please be praying that all goes well tomorrow. Please also pray for Shan’s mother, as it’s hard to be so far away from home and alone in a strange country.
Last night Shan’s mother called me from the hospital. She was a little worries because the doctors had told her that Shan had a bacterial infection and needed to be moved to isolation. She was asking me what it meant, because she hadn’t been able to find an Arabic-speaking doctor. I didn’t know, but thank God, just a bit after she called me a doctor came and explained it to her.
Though Shan carries MRSA and CPE bacteria, they told us that it isn’t hurting her now, she is only in an isolation room because the bacteria could be dangerous for other children in the hospital. Shan doesn’t seem to mind at all – she was still her happy, smiling self when I visited her today. The nurse told her mom that she needs a bath with special antibacterial soap every day, but other than that, she’s doing very well. Her oxygen remains low, and we’re waiting until after the doctors’ meeting on Sunday to hear what her treatment plan will be.
Please be praying for good news, so that she can have her necessary operation soon.
Today was our beautiful smiling Shan’s first echo at Hadassah hospital. She was cheerful and well-behaved throughout the whole echo, which is definitely unusual for a child her age.
She was only a bit cranky a for the last couple minutes of the echo, when she had to lie on her side. After her echo, the nurses checked her oxygen saturation.
It’s normally been in the 70s, sometimes dipping as low as 65%, but today it was only 55%! They immediately decided to admit her.
After a long time of waiting, Shan’s mom became a bit worried about how she would live at the hospital; she hadn’t come to the echo prepared to stay longer than one day, so she needed some of her things that she’d left at the house.
Coworker Tatiana went home with another child, then picked up Shan’s things and returned to the hospital. While Tatiana was away, Shan’s room was finally ready.
She settled right in, happily waving her arms and legs while lying in her hospital bed.
She wasn’t quite as happy when the doctors placed her IV, but she calmed down afterwards, and was peacefully sleeping when Tatiana and I left the hospital.
Please pray that she will be able to have her needed surgery soon, and that God will grant her full healing.
Today little five-month-old Shan arrived from Kurdistan! She and her beautiful mother are very happy to be here.
After a bit of a wait getting through passport control and finding ways to carry the luggage, Shan, her mother, and one other family exited Ben Gurion airport safely.
Shan is a very beautiful little girl, and fell asleep as soon as we got her into the car seat. Her mother speaks Arabic fluently, so we were able to communicate with each other somewhat. Shan has transposition of the great arteries, a condition which should usually be corrected by surgery within the first two months of life. She is now five months old, which makes her situation a bit complicated.
The day after her late night arrival, Shan is going to Hadassah Hospital so the doctors can decide on the best steps for her. Please pray for this lovely baby girl as she starts this new stage in her life.
We said goodbye to our sweet adorable Shan and her amazing mother this afternoon. After only a little over a month in Israel, Shan has had her surgery, recovered well, and now can return to her home in Kurdistan. Her mother is very glad to be going home to her husband, and I’m sure that Shan will also be pleased to see her father. Of course, our joyful little girl is hardly ever displeased about anything.
Over the past weeks we’ve had Shan and her mother in our Jerusalem guest house, I’ve been surprised again and again by what a happy baby Shan is. She hardly ever cries, and will smile and giggle at the slightest provocation. She’s six months old now, a happy pink baby. At her goodbye party last night, Shan’s mom shared that she had never imagined her baby could be so pink. When Shan first came, her lips and eyelids and fingernails were a deep purple – but now they are a beautiful pink!
It has been an incredible blessing to meet Shan and her mother. Shan’s mother is an amazing woman. When one of the other Kurdish mothers lost her child in the hospital, Shan’s mom left Shan with another mother and came right away to support and encourage the mother in the hospital during this horribly difficult time. She was the perfect person to comfort the other mother in her loss – she sacrificed many hours of sleep and rest to support the other mother while she was waiting to return home.
At Shan’s farewell party, her mother also shared that she had come to Israel for her daughter’s surgery never expecting to find kindness in the people here. However, she was so happy and surprised to find care and support from both Shevet volunteers and doctors. She said that we were like family to her. We will miss both of them greatly – but we rejoice that they can return home in joy.
Please pray that Shan will continue to grow in grace and health, and that the love these two have felt here at Shevet will follow them home and continue to bless them and draw them nearer to our Lord.
At Shan’s farewell party, her mother also shared that she had come to Israel for her daughter’s surgery never expecting to find kindness in the people here. However, she was so happy and surprised to find care and support from both Shevet volunteers and doctors. She said that we were like family to her. We will miss both of them greatly – but we rejoice that they can return home in joy.
Please pray that Shan will continue to grow in grace and health, and that the love these two have felt here at Shevet will follow them home and continue to bless them and draw them nearer to our Lord.
