Late yesterday afternoon, the interventional cardiologist at Sheba texted me with surprising news. In the doctors’ conference yesterday, the surgeon requested more images of Niyan’s collateral arteries before surgery. This meant another cath, but there was an open spot in the cath lab today if we could get Niyan to Sheba first thing in the morning.
So early this morning, Joanne and I brought Niyan and her dad to Sheba, where she bravely underwent all the necessary tests in preparation for the cath.
Niyan was noticeably less nervous this time around; when she shrugged her shoulders and told me, “I’m not scared at all, this is nothing,” she really seemed to mean it. She was in great spirits all morning and we had a lot of fun practicing her English, Arabic, and even German, and my Kurdish.
She was grinning all the way into the cath lab, and blew me a kiss as her dad carried her inside.
The procedure only took an hour and a half, and when the doctor came out, she gave a smile and a double thumbs up. “That’s about all I have to say,” she said. The cath went well and they were able to collect all the images the surgeon needed. In the coming days, the doctors will discuss the next steps for Niyan.




Niyan is already waking up shortly after her procedure. She’s running a small fever but feeling good with her dad taking good care of her.