

It was really a special day for Miran! Not only that after his successful catheterization he was discharged from the hospital and returned to our family home in Ashdod, but we could also all celebrate his second birthday together. Lord, we want to thank you for Miran’s second year. May you continue to watch over Miran and never leave his side.
When I picked up Miran and his mother from the hospital, a nurse repeated how well the catheterization had gone. The doctors were able to do everything that was planned and there were no abnormalities afterwards. On Monday, however, Miran’s doctor wants to do a check-up again, probably an echo and ECG.
But first we made our way home to Ashdod where the other families were already eagerly waiting for Miran to wish him a happy birthday. In the evening, we all ate cake together and gave Miran a small gift. He was happier about that than about an oversized balloon in the shape of a two – this made him a little uncomfortable.
“Oke.” That’s how little Miran greeted me this morning, this one word he learned from us in his time here. Every time we check his oxygen in our house and we are finished, Miran says with a big grin on his face: oke!
At 10:30 they took him into the surgery preparation room and after another signature from his mom and some questions, his mother was allowed to carry her boy into the Cath lab where she came out crying and hugged me. She went through all of this for the second time and still it was so hard for her. Especially because the doctors told her that if this Cath doesn’t bring enough success, Miran will need a surgery.
The Cath was over after three hours and a little after Miran was back in his room we could go to him and a doctor told us that the Cath went all well. They were able to widen his pulmonary artery but weren’t completely happy with the results. After his heart fought now for nearly two years against the pulmonary stenosis, it’s hard to fix it.
After a week, Miran will get another echo where the doctors will make the decision if he needs surgery, but they didn’t sound very optimistic that the Cath was enough. This is hard news for his mom who will have to celebrate Miran’s second birthday tomorrow away from her family! Please pray for Miran and his mother.S
Miran will have another catheterisation tomorrow. He was called in just today but his mother was really happy that they are treating him now as it brings them closer to going home to Kurdistan. The whole day he was smiling as long as he didn’t have to do tests, then he was crying as probably every child would. After doing a chest X-ray, he was brought to his room in the intermediate ICU to spend the night there. Please pray for his procedure tomorrow, that everything goes according to plan and he will be good afterwards.
Today Miran underwent his echo at Sheba Hospital. His doctor was deciding whether it would be help enough to increase Miran’s meds or if he needs another procedure.
To the disappointment of Miran’s mother however, the echo indicated that the meds were not enough. Miran’s pulmonary valve and the part underneath it, is still too narrow. God willing, the doctors will discuss his case on Wednesday and then decide whether he only needs another Cath or a surgery to fix the problem.
His mom took the news very well even though she is already so long in Israel. It is admirable that she didn’t mind at all that she had to wait today for a couple of hours longer until we could bring her back to our community home in Ashdod. Meanwhile, Miran took advantage of every free moment, enjoyed running around in the hospital and playing with whatever he could find, but clearly he is still not a fan of echoes or ECGs. Please keep praying for this cute boy and a good decision from his doctors.
Our cute Miran went again for an echo today where his mom hoped he would get discharged home to Kurdistan.
Sadly the doctors discovered that he still has pulmonary stenosis and can’t go home like this. For now the doctors increased his medication and want to see in two weeks how he is doing with this, but if he doesn’t improve enough with the medication increase, he will need another cath or maybe even surgery before he can go home.
His mom wasn’t very happy about that, but she took it very well as she only wants the best for her son. Miran enjoyed his day in the hospital, was running around and playing and smiling at everyone. Please keep praying for that cute boy and his family!
After his successful catheterization last week, Miran is now back at our family home in Ashdod.
Coworker Simona and I used the free time to go to the beach with him and other Kurdish children. How nice to see them playing so juyful. Together with the other children, Miran took a few steps into the cool water. He didn’t stay dry, but that wasn’t a problem, because we had enough towels with us.
His mother seemed to be having a good time too. She took some photos with the other Kurdish mothers and had a good conversation. Thank you, Lord, for this time off and the recovery between the catheterization and the following appointments in the hospital.
Please continue to bless Miran as new challenges arise in the coming weeks.
Today was Miran’s discharge from Sheba Medical Center.
He had again an Echo which went well, so that my coworker Joanne and I were able to bring him and his mother back to our community house in Ashdod.
On Monday Miran had a few challenging appointments so I was all the more happy to bring him back to Ashdod. In ten days, he has to go back to the hospital for follow-up appointments.
Please Pray for Miran and his mother, that they have a blessed and restful time here in Ashdod.
After his cath yesterday at Sheba Medical, Miran is already doing really fine. Even so, he looked a bit tired when I visited him, but was happy to eat some of the snacks the children in the ICU get. He was smiling brightly when his mom gave him a pudding which made his mom and me smile even more. For a short time we saw him also playing outside of the ward, playing in the locomotive at the playground. It’s good to see him doing well after his cath.
Hopefully Miran can be discharged tomorrow and will meet his friend, who was already discharged today, in Ashdod again, where both of them will be staying with us until their treatment continues.
Please continue to pray for Miran, that he can grow up like any other child.
Little Miran had his catheterization today and by the time Craig and I arrived at Sheba Hospital, he was already in the middle of it.
We eagerly awaited the results. When I approached the ICU and heard him crying, I was a little concerned at first. However, the nurse was able to calm me down. His catheterisation went well and he can probably return to our family-house in Ashdod tomorrow, together with his Kurdish friend who also had a catheterisation today. Thank the Lord for protecting Miran so well today.
In fact, Miran stopped crying as soon as there was no more doctor in the room and his mother looked relieved. When I wanted to sit down with the two, Miran started to crying again. I guess I looked like a doctor to him with my face mask on. So I quickly left the room again. This is also the reason why Miran is not in the picture. Instead, you can see a photo from a while ago above. After the catherisation, his brown eyes shine just like in the old picture.
Today marked Mirans first day at Sheba hospital. He had his first echo, a blood test and an X-ray to evaluate his situation. Even though it was a new environment he was very playful and enjoyed the time between the test. For the echo he was a little bit anxious and was moving a lot what made it difficult for his doctors to do the imagery. They had to retry a few times what was really exhausting for little Miran so in the end he fell asleep what made the job much easier for the echo tech. The doctors will meet in a few days to talk about the approach for him but they are considering a cath before his surgery.
“Thank you Lord for precious Miran and his mother. Bless him in the following weeks with strength and endurance so that he will learn to not be afraid of the test at the Hospital.”
After a long trip, Miran and his mother arrived today safely with two other kids and their moms from Kurdistan. When I picked them up at Ben Gurion Airport all of them were really tired and we were all glad when we arrived in Ashdod.
At first Miran didn’t look so happy about seeing so many unfamiliar people, but not too long afterwards, he was walking around the house like he was exploring something unknown and even gave me a smile. We are glad to have them with us and hope that his treatment goes well.
Please pray for him and his family for the time they are staying with us for treatment and even afterwards when they go home, that he can grow up just like any other child.