Today we collected Tala and her mom from the border at Erez and brought them to Hadassah Hospital for a scheduled echo.
Written by Michelle:
Coworker Berith was in Hadassah Hospital for much of the day yesterday with Tala and her mother. They were told Tala’s cath would commence around 3 pm but the hours stretched to after 6 pm before the cath began.
Berith stayed with Tala’s mom until the end of the surgery, roughly between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. A nurse said the catheterization went well. Thank God.
They brought Tala to the PICU directly afterwards and worked there to set Tala up for the night. At that point Berith left the hospital. Thank you for your prayers.
written by Berith:
We were told that baby Tala’s surgery should start about 3 pm yesterday since she had a virus and they couldn’t afford the risk of any other child to be infected by it. In other words, they wanted her to be the last surgery of the day. Little did we know that the procedure of waiting for her mother and me would last altogether about eight hours, but thank God, the surgery itself didn’t take that long. only about four hours. Finally a nurse came to see us, and with a big smile she announced that it was a successful surgery and as soon they have closed up everything, Tala would go to the PICU. When we came there, Tala’s bed was surrounded by doctors and nurses, and they took good care of her. It doesn’t matter how long a time I spend in the waiting room, I always see it as a huge blessing to be able to be there. I see it brings comfort to the caregivers to not be alone, even if we most of the time do not speak.
And today we got the good news that Tala was well enough to go home to Gaza again.
Tala returned to from Gaza to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem this morning. Tomorrow she is due for a catheterization which will release the banding which was previously placed to protect her pulmonary artery from hypertension.
Coworkers Berith and Frankie were on hand to greet her with pastries and tea graciously provided by volunteers at Hadassah Hospital.
Little Tala had a scheduled echo check-up at Hadassah Hospital today. Coworker Michiel drove to Erez Border Crossing to collect both Tala and her mother.
After receiving them from the van at Hadassah’s main entrance, coworker Jonathan and I brought Tala and her mother to the hospital’s Day-Hospitalization Clinic for her echo.
While waiting to be called into the examination room, Tala’s mother asked for some easy to eat chocolate for her daughter. All I could find was some chocolate pudding in a cup. I guess it was put to some good use as seen by this photo.
Echo results revealed that Tala needs an Interventional Catheterization to release the banding of her pulmonary artery. The hospital will invite her in the next couple of weeks to return for this procedure.
Michiel again returned this little family to the border crossing at the end of the day. We will be seeing Tala again soon, Lord willing.
Tala left Hadassah Hospital early this afternoon to return to her family. She had an Echo this morning that showed the cauterization was effective. She will be back next month for a follow up appointment to determine further treatment.
Dr. Hison was able to take Tala and her Mother to the Temple Mount before heading back to Gaza. Her Mother was very excited and happy because she has always wanted to go! She was surprised at how beautiful Jerusalem is and how helpful and kind the people are. She was so appreciative of all that Shevet Achim and the hospital has done for her and Tala.
I met sweet Tala and her mother for the first time today at Hadassah Hospital. Tala had her interventional catheterization procedure this afternoon. The doctor said they used a balloon to expand the size of her aorta. It was successful and she did well! Tala’s mom has made friends with another mom whose child is also being treated at Hadassah through the ministry of Shevet Achim.
We pray for God’s peace for Tala’s family and healing for this precious child!
Tala, now four months old, came from Gaza today along with her mother. After connecting to Wi-Fi in Hadassah Hospital, Tala’s mom looked very happy to give her greetings and any news about Tala to her friends and family in Gaza.
Tala was suffering a second narrowing of Aorta (re-CoA) after her first open-heart surgery in Oct. 2022. On 20 Feb, she will undergo a catheterization to resolve it.
Tala was very quiet without any crying while the 10 leads of EKG are attached to her body. Tala is ‘very cooperative’ so we are thankful for that. God willing, Tala and her mom will be happy again and little Tala cured without any complications.
This morning our little Tala came to Hadassah Ein Kerem for her Echo follow up appointment. She wore a really shiny suit which looked really cute on her, also it was a little bit too big. It suited her really well, for she is also a very shiny little girl who loves to smile!
At first we had some fun waiting-time in front of the Echo room. Tala stuck her tongue out again and again and so her grandmother was pushing it back inside again and again. It was nice to see them play their little game and Tala didn’t get tired of it. After some time we could finally make the Echo which took longer than expected. Tala was very hungry and was crying all the time, but in the end she fell asleep so it was a lot easier for her doctor.
After he was done with the Echo and also got all her vitals, he was talking to another cardiologist. He explained to us that Tala’s aorta is getting narrow again. He will have a meeting with a third cardiologist and they will prepare a treatment plan for her. So we will see Tala probably in less than a month.
After everything was done, we could head out of Hadassah and Hala and her grandmother were driven back home to Gaza by our coworkers Luisa and Dr Hison. Let’s give thanks to the Lord for this beautiful and happy girl. Her grandmother is taking good care of her and they have a great bond! Please also pray for Tala, that the narrowing in her Aorta is not too much of a problem for her. Let’s also ask the Lord our God for strength and wisdom for the doctors to make the perfect treatment plan for Tala!
Written by Bereth and Petra
Today it was time for sweet baby Tala and her loving grandmother to go home to Gaza, and coworker Petra and I were there to help with the arrangement. The first time I met this grandmother, she was very worried about her granddaughter’s situation, but today you could see in all her body language that her worries had turned into peace. She smiled and seemed relaxed, and that made me very happy. To see all the love while she was facing baby Tala, and how gentle her hands nursed her, was for me priceless.
From the first moment I met Tala’s grandmother, I felt a special connection with her, and today it grew stronger. Coworker Petra was speaking in Arabic with her, and suddenly this grandmother turned towards me trying to explain what the doctor had said. I tried to imitate the word that seemed most important, and it ended up in a tear-filled laughter between the three of us, that was almost impossible to stop. Tala’s grandmother dried her eyes with her clothes, and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Over and over again we started to laugh just by looking at each other, and it seemed like she loved it just as much as I did.
While I was watching her taking such good care of her granddaughter, it suddenly struck me that the bond that was built during the hardship of their time while in hospital, will be for life. While we were on our way out to the car to take them back to Erez Crossing, Tala’s grandmother stopped me and kissed both my cheeks. I’m so happy on Tala’s behalf to have such a wonderful grandmother, and I myself will never forget this beautiful woman who left a piece of gold in my heart.
Coworker Petra writes: I just want to say how helpful and wonderful and kind all of the doctors and nurses were at Hadassah Hospital today – not a single one was ever rude or even seemed one little bit frustrated, even though I had to ask the nurses again and again about Tala’s discharge papers. When I went to the other floor to find Tala’s doctor, all of the doctors were beyond kind; one even dropped what she was doing and spent five minutes searching through the computer and calling people just to help me out. And on the way home in the car, I was singing to myself and Tala’s grandmother was singing to herself and we laughed together about how everything moves faster when you are singing. Tala’s grandmother has such a beautiful smile and laugh.
Since yesterday, doctors at Hadassah Hospital have stopped hypertension medication for Tala and wanted to keep an eye on her to see her reaction.
Today, Tala was discharged from the Pediatric ICU and transferred to the Pediatric Department, where some of the final tests for her were done, that is thyroid and x-ray.
I spent time with Tala’s grandma. She was engaged in art and colors, with a large degree of patience to make those paintings. Today really touched my heart when her grateful words were communicated via google translate. She said she was more than grateful with Shevet Achim that Tala and she herself have been shown so much love and support, and the truly important things that everyone has, but not everyone shows.
Today we visited Tala. Since her surgery she has been doing better, she doesn’t have fever or oxygen support anymore. When we went to her room, her grandma was making some coloring and crafts. After a few minutes, Tala’s grandma was showing us proudly all the things that she has been doing during this time. We also recognized that Tala likes music, every time the music goes on she turns her face to the corner where the toy is making music and making noises, she wanted us to put the music on again. The doctors increased Tala’s food, they are also making some brain tests, they know she had down symptoms and some weakness so the doctors want to be sure if it is related or not. Her grandma it’s asking if she can go home soon. “Inshallah,” we are with her and our prayer is the same. If God’s willing.
Today coworker Craig and I went to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem to visit baby Tala from Gaza. She was peacefully sleeping during our visit, and there was a woman present in the room chatting with Tala’s grandmother. She translated for us, and that was a huge blessing.
Via our translator, I was told this woman, Tala’s grandmother, doesn’t eat because she’s so worried about her granddaughter, so I tried my very best to encourage her. When tears filled her eyes, I asked her if I could give her a hug, and so I did. I stood beside her watching what happened while two nurses gently and calmly started to wash the hair of sweet little Tala, and I could feel the tears starting to fill my eyes.
I glanced at her grandmother and saw the same thing happening with her. It was a very precious moment, and while fighting my tears I stroked her back and she squeezed my hand. The nurses treated the baby as gently as if she was royalty, and I couldn’t leave the room without honoring them for the loving care and the excellent work they are doing in this hospital. It’s not my first visit, I’ve seen it several years and it makes me so grateful for every child that is coming here.
Our sweet almost two-week-old Tala is still intubated today after her surgery yesterday at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. The doctors say that she’s okay, but she has lost some weight since her surgery, and she is running a fever. They hope to extubate her tomorrow, but they aren’t sure that she’ll be doing well enough.
Her sweet grandmother and I waited in Tala’s room together for half an hour while two kind nurses replaced part of Tala’s intubation tube. Her grandmother and I had a bit of trouble understanding each other, but we just smiled at each other and laughed to fill in the gaps. She told me about Tala’s older siblings, and about the rest of the family back in Gaza.
Please be praying for Tala to improve, to gain her weight back and recover from her fever, and that her extubation tomorrow will go well and the doctors will make the right decisions for her.
Chubby little Tala had a surgery today at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, to correct the coarctation of her aorta. The surgery was successful, and she is stable and doing well.
The doctors gave her a x-ray and an echo to make sure that everything is as it should be, and she looks good. She is here with her grandmother. Hopefully she can be extubated within the next few days.
Please pray for a good recovery for her.
Tala is a year old child from the Gaza Strip diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta.
Tala does not yet have a local leader to advocate for prayer and financial support for her surgery.
As of right now, Tala still needs $6500 toward surgery and related expenses.