Today was finally the big surgery day for our tiny Maryam at Sheba Hospital. Everyone, including the doctors, felt some fear of the outcome of this surgery. So we were very surprised and happy, as after only a little more than five hours, Maryam was back in her room.
Her surgery went the best way they could have expected it to. They placed a patch over her AV-canal, that is, the hole between the four chambers of her heart, and were able to repair her valve instead of placing a mechanical one.
When Maryam was back in her room, she was bleeding a little bit and they had problems stabilizing her for a while, but by the time we left the hospital, Maryam was stable. We need to see how she recovers, especially the first hours are very critical.
Further in her future, Maryam may need another surgery, but this depends on the success of this surgery and how she is recovering after it. So please pray for a good recovery for little Maryam and for strength for her grandmother!
Tomorrow at Sheba Hospital, Maryam will be in surgery. She is still very small, but as she has pulmonary hypertension, an oversupply of blood flowing to her lungs, and has an AV canal, she really needs to have surgery soon.
This will be a very complicated surgery. Please pray for the doctors for wisdom during the surgery and for strength for Maryam to get through it.
Maryam is still stable and intubated after her catheterization at Sheba Hospital on Thursday. She will need surgery as soon as possible and the doctors want to do it this week, though they haven’t scheduled it yet.
This surgery will be very complicated and not straight forward as Maryam doesn’t only have pulmonary hypertension and too much blood flowing to the lungs, but she also has problems with her valves.
There isn’t an easy solution for her; the surgery will be dangerous for her. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, that they will know what to do best in this surgery and how to help Maryam in the best way possible.
Maryam had a diagnostic catheterization today at Sheba Hospital. She is still stable and intubated, but the doctor said that she has pulmonary hypertension and oversupply of blood to her lungs.
Her sweet grandmother is happy to be with her, though it’s very hard for her to see her beloved granddaughter like this. Hopefully the doctors will meet on Sunday to discuss the next steps for her.
Please pray that they will find a good solution for beautiful little Maryam.
Little Maryam is still in the pediatric ICU of Sheba Medical, where she was moved a few days ago because her condition worsened and she had to be intubated. Today she had an ECHO and will be having a diagnostic catheterization tomorrow.
Also today, her escort switched out and Maryam’s grandmother will be with her from today on. When we visited Maryam, her mother was really worried about her and about her being in the normal ICU now. Please pray that her mom can have peace leaving her daughter with her grandmother in the hospital. We also hope and pray for the doctors to have wisdom on how to treat Maryam effectively.
Today we visited Maryam at Sheba Medical Center. She was moved from the secondary ICU to the normal ICU yesterday. She is having some trouble gaining more weight and the doctors want to watch her more.
When we entered Maryam’s hospital room, she was sleeping and her mother was very tired too. We really hope for Maryam to get better and to successfully gain more weight!
Little Maryam and her lovely mother are still in the Secondary Pediatric ICU of Sheba Medical. Her doctor told me today the disappointing news that she is still not gaining weight. They are giving her everything they can and feeding her via tube, but she is not improving.
For now, the doctors just want to give her more time and wait for another week in the hope that she will gain weight during this time.
Today Maryam’s mum wasn’t feeling well, so we had to go to the Ob-Gyn emergency department. She is 14 weeks pregnant and had a side pain on her belly and was very worried about the baby.
The medical staff was so kind to her, that they even looked for an Arabic-speaking doctor. He told her that everything is normal and that the baby is doing fine. Maryam’s mom was then relaxed and not worried anymore about her baby.
Regarding Maryam herself, there isn’t any news. She still has to grow and gain more weight to proceed with the next steps.
Little Maryam is our latest urgent arrival from Gaza. She’s six months old but due to her heart defect has been slipping backwards in recent weeks; her weight was just 2.7 kg (less than 6 pounds) when she arrived in Israel on Friday.
Doctors are giving her nutrition through a nasal tube to help her gain enough weight to go to surgery. As of today she is up to 3 kg. Have a listen to her plaintive little voice:
When I was looking for new arrival Maryam today in the Sheba Hospital Pediatric ICU, I couldn’t find her but only her mom talking with another mother from Gaza. She told me that Maryam is doing well and is moved to the secondary ICU.
The doctors did some genetic tests today, and now we are waiting for the results. For now Maryam is well and they think to even move her to the pediatric ward until she can have her surgery.
Let us pray for this tiny little girl and her sweet mother!
On Friday, six month old Maryam W. from Gaza, arrived to Sheba Hospital via ambulance. She needs an AV canal repair surgery, but before a surgery can take place, the doctors need Maryam to get bigger and stronger.
Maryam is such a little precious baby and looked really cute sleeping during our first visit, while we talked to her mom. Please pray for her to gain some weight and for the doctors, that they would have extra wisdom for this case, and will have a surgery date soon.
Today was finally the big surgery day for our tiny Maryam at Sheba Hospital. Everyone, including the doctors, felt some fear of the outcome of this surgery. So we were very surprised and happy, as after only a little more than five hours, Maryam was back in her room.
When Maryam was back in her room, she was bleeding a little bit and they had problems stabilizing her for a while, but by the time we left the hospital, Maryam was stable. We need to see how she recovers, especially the first hours are very critical.
