This morning Ahmed, who is slowly getting to know us better and sometimes even accepts us as friends, went into surgery at Sheba Hospital to repair his mitral valve. He waited a long time for this surgery and today was finally the day!
When I arrived in hospital, he was already in the OR and so I found his mother together with other mothers from Gaza. As expected, she was deeply worried and couldn’t hold back her tears. Through the whole day she started crying several times and I saw her deep love for her son behind those tears. But she was not alone. One of the other mothers from Gaza in hospital accompanied her almost the whole day. Despite the sadness of Ahmed’s mother, she made us laugh several times. I’m glad and thankful every time I see these moms and for how they became good friends. They help each other out and encourage each other.
But still, hour after hour passed by. After eight hours of not hearing anything about how the surgery was going, Ahmed’s mother became more and more anxious. Then finally the surgeon came out of the OR to talk to her. Thank God the surgery went well and Ahmed is doing well.
However, they couldn’t repair the valve as it was completely destroyed. The surgeon said it wouldn’t have lasted long if they had repaired it. Instead they had to replace the valve completely. Once Ahmed was out of surgery, his mother ran directly into the ICU where his room had been prepared. After a long time of waiting, his mother was finally able to see her son again for whom she had waited so long. Praying for his recovery from this long surgery.