Today was the long-awaited day of Azhan’s surgery at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. When coworker Luisa and I visited him and his mother today in their hospital room, Azhan was already crying and really scared of what was going to happen.
But when a nurse rolled the bed in to bring him to the surgery, he was very brave and sat on it. During his way to the pre-surgery room, he was making sure to hold his mother’s hand the whole time. In the pre-surgery room we had to wait for a bit and so Azhan was asking his mother about all the things he was seeing there. In those minutes he seemed to forget his fears and just enjoyed talking with his mother. Even when some doctors came in to make a last check-up, they were really nice to Azhan so he didn’t seem to be afraid. But as soon as he got prepared for the surgery, and had to put on a pajama, he was crying again and refused to change. We could feel his fear and even his mother started crying and held him very tight. Finally, some doctors entered the room to bring Azhan and his mother to the OR. She was allowed to remain in the OR for the anesthesia only, prior to surgery. When she returned to the waiting area, she was weeping and very devastated, so we tried to comfort her as much as possible.
After some more waiting time, we could finally enter the ICU and see Azhan. He looked very good! However unfortunately, when the nurses made an X-Ray and sat him up to put a steel plate behind his back, he woke up and looked really terrified. He even tried to remove his ventilator! But the nurses calmed him down and so he fell asleep. The next time he woke up, medical staff was able to extubate him, so now he is breathing on his own with just a bit of oxygen support!
We are so thankful to the Lord for how Azhan’s surgery went. Let’s gather in thanksgiving all around the world! Please keep on praying for strength for Azhan’s mother and Azhan himself, to be able to deal with their time in the hospital. May the Lord provide for them!