Today at Sheba Hospital, Amina had another echo, but this time she was able to be discharged to Kurdistan.
A few weeks ago, when Amina was given a decrease in her medication, her mood turned more active and happy. Today, while we were waiting for the doctor, she was dancing and singing.
Amina had a routine test, her oxygen saturation pointed to higher levels, the ECG showed a great image of her heartbeats, and the echo results were good enough to discharge her to her home country of Kurdistan.
After the tests and the discharge procedure was complete, Amina’s mom said good bye to the other moms. The goodbyes were especially significant as, in the beauty of the moment, Amina selected a video on her mother’s cell phone of the Shevet workers singing Hodu L’Adonai. This song translates to an important word for these moms and our community: Give thanks to God who is good, God’s love and kindness endure forever.
In the afternoon, coworkers Bria and Quinlan drove Amina and her Mom along with another mom and child, to Ben Gurion airport where they boarded a flight that would take them to Kurdistan. God bless them and keep them, and guard Amina’s health.
Tensions were higher than usual this morning as we pulled out of the driveway toward Sheba Medical Centre. Young Amina’s echo appointment was rescheduled abruptly the night before to an early time in the morning, and we didn’t find out until we rose for morning meeting. When the day begins with subverted expectations, one braces for what the rest of the day might hold.
Thankfully, dear Amina showed great progress in her echo and check up. The doctors are happy with her progress and recovery post surgery, so much so they are taking her off of another medication. Next Sunday, when she has her next appointment, so long as she remains as healthy as she is now, they will give her the official green light to go home! In the lobby, I wheeled Amina around the colorful train and playhouse. She was all smiles, a blessing to see after all of the surgery and recovery.
By the time we pulled out of the hospital to return to the Ashdod base, it was about the exact time Amina’s original appointment was scheduled. We were not only greatful for Amina’s remarkable progress post surgery, but also for the efficiency of the morning. Today was yet another reminder that though the day may start on a wobbly foot, God can still bring His perfect plans to fruition.
Amina had another echo this morning at Sheba hospital. She’s had four now since being discharged from the hospital, as her doctor is closely monitoring her progress as he decreases her medications.
Amina stopped taking prednisolone, a steroid to treat fluid buildup in her chest, a couple of days ago, and thank God today’s echo showed that there is no fluid in her chest even without the medication. What’s more, one of the side effects of the steroid was an effect on her mood, so now that it is finished, Amina has cheered up quite a bit.
She enjoyed playing with coworker Coleman during the waiting time and listening to music through her mom’s headphones.
Amina will have another echo on Sunday and likely another two weeks after that. Her cardiologist is hoping to send her home to Kurdistan in three weeks. Please pray for continued good echo results for her.
Amina had an echo at Sheba Hospital today and because she had an improvement, doctors decreased her medication.
Amina’s echo was a journey however. While we waited for the procedure’s completion, Amina had an electrocardiogram done, was measured and weighed and had her temp taken.
When the doctor came to talk about the echo results, Amina’s mother asked him if Amina was stable even though she was with fever a few days before. However, the doctor was happy with the echo results and decided to reduce one of Amina’s medications. He also scheduled a follow up appointment on Sunday for Amina.
But to be careful, and based on the report of fever, the doctor decided to order a blood test for Amina. The blood test results confirmed Amina’s health is good; she doesn’t have a virus or a bacteria. On Sunday, Amina will take only one medication, and will have to come back to the hospital for her follow up appointment.
Today, coworker Joanne and I went to the hospital to have Amina’s echo. The doctors informed us that there is a vessel or something that is thinner than usual. They compared an echo they did before to the echo they did today, and showed us that the vessel was thicker before. To our delight, the doctors mentioned that this isn’t something we have to worry about. However, they chose to change the medications a little bit. Other than this, she is doing very good!
As soon as we walked inside the echo room, coworker Joanne and I expected loud crying to come from Amina, but she was surprisingly very calm through the entire process. She was just chilling by watching some YouTube videos on her mother’s phone. She also listened to some songs and was dancing by putting her hands in the air! This made everyone in the room laugh. She was a very happy girl today!
We took Amina to Sheba for echo this morning. She just has been discharged before the weekend after a blessed recovery from a surgery.
Amina had to be on the examination table for a while for echo and other things, but her mom is now an expert how to distract her with music and video, and they both did it very well.
Even while the doctors and technicians were discussing something after the echo, she was calmly waiting there on the table. Good job, Amina! The doctor said she still has fluid around her heart, but it is much less now. Amina will be coming back to Sheba for another check up on Thursday. Thank you Lord for keeping Amina for this entire process. Please protect her for a complete healing so that she can leave Ashdod for her Home in Syria soon.
Today, Amina was discharged from Sheba Hospital to Ashdod! The doctors told us that she will continue with the same medications, and that we should watch how she does over the weekend so that they know what to do next.
Before discharge, Amina had an echo exam.
Someone gave Amina a present for getting discharged! Please pray that she will have no complications during the weekend!
Today we had a nice surprise at Sheba Hospital when we didn’t find Amina in the first ICU, but in the secondary.
Amina’s mother was happy with the news about her daughter moving to secondary and was confident in God’s timing. She was also excited because the nurses came and brushed Amina’s hair and with elastic bands, styled Amina’s hair. Amina is a little shy, but always enjoys spending time with new friends.
The doctors are finding fluids in Amina’s heart. They have scheduled an echo for her in a few days to see if the medicine they are giving her helps to decrease the fluids. Until now, she has had an improve-ment in her oxygen levels. Doctors want to continue to keep an eye on her and depending on her progress, she could be discharged soon.
Pray for Amina’s improvement and wisdom for her doctors.
When coworker Momo and I visited Amina in Sheba Hospital today, she was laying in her ICU bed, watching videos. Amina’s mother was very happy to see us and started telling a lot of stories about Amina and their adventures in the hospital.
It looked like Amina could have been discharged today, but her oxygen level is not stable enough for her to leave the hospital. The doctors want to keep an eye on her for a couple more days.
Thank you for your prayers. The Lord really watched over Amina and protected her. Please keep praying for her recovery.
Amina had her surgery today. It went very well! Normally, a surgery takes six hours or more, but the surgeon came out with the news after only four hours. The surgeon told us that the surgery was very successful. It will take some days to see if Amina responds well to everything, but for now she is doing well.
Amina’s mother was very happy to hear this. She had been talking to her children and husband on the phone a lot during the surgery. She was very nervous, she could not sit still, going outside, to her room, and walking back and forth in the hallway.
Praise the Lord everything went well and Amina can now recover from her surgery. God is good!
Amina just arrived in Israel and is already admitted to Sheba Hospital. This little girl really needs surgery to get better, so it’s perfect that they just arrived in time in Israel.
Today, little Amina had a CT scan and the doctors scheduled her for surgery on Thursday.
Yesterday, Amina’s mother didn’t expect to stay in the hospital. So, coworker Bria and I brought her some clothes today. She was really happy to be visited and was eager to talk to me about how Amina is doing. It’s a rough time for them.
We pray that Amina can have her surgery and it will help her little heart. We just experienced it this week with another child who came to Israel and went directly to the hospital, had surgery and got discharged in one week. May it will also work out that well for Amina and her mother. The Lord bless them.
After arriving in Israel yesterday morning, little Amina had her first echo at Sheba hospital today. The echo took quite a long time, as the doctors were looking very carefully at her heart, but Amina was calm for most of it. A bottle of milk and a video call with her family back home helped her relax.
Amina’s oxygen saturation was very low when she arrived at her appointment and remained lower than usual for the whole echo. After examining her heart and considering her condition, her cardiologist decided it’s best to admit her to the hospital for now.
Amina is now resting in the ICU at Sheba hospital and waiting for a CT scan in the coming days before her heart surgery.
Coworker Hanna and I picked up a little beautiful and sleepy Amina from the airport today. Amina’s mother already sent me a picture of them in the plane, so we could find them easily.
When we arrived in Ashdod, we went directly to their room and they could rest a little after the long flight.
Amina and her mother are refugees from Syria. We figured out how we can talk with each other a little: Arabic, Kurdish, hands and feet. It was nice to spend some time with them, and to get to know them.
Amina is the youngest of three girls in her family. She has a heart defect named Tetralogy of Fallot. Her oxygen saturation is really bad and I could see how blue her fingers are.
I never saw it that bad on the fingers of any child at Shevet before. We hope and pray that Amina and her mother will have a blessed time in Israel, and also will have a successful surgery or cath. Amina is a cute little girl. So thankful they came safely to us.