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.