Osaid returned to us from the West Bank today for his follow-up echo at Sheba Hospital. This boy is growing bigger and healthier with every day, and he looked around him with shrewd and discerning eyes–it’s a joy to see how much he’s improved since I last saw him in the hospital over a month ago.
And his echo bore good news as well. His heart is in good condition and he has no major sources of concern. His examining doctor expects that, when he returns again in two months, he will be ready to have the next step in his heart treatment, a catheterization.
Please pray that he’ll stay well until then, and that his heart will grow enough for the procedure to be possible!
After a short hospitalization, Osaid was discharged from Sheba hospital to return home to Hebron. The doctors discovered that he was critically dehydrated as a result of the diuretic medication he takes for fluid buildup around his heart, which in turn was causing renal failure. After a few days’ treatment with fluids, and a change of medications, Osaid is doing much better. We’ll see him again next month when he returns for another check-up.
Little Osaid arrived at Sheba Hospital from his home in the West Bank on Monday morning with both his parents. His parents expected just an echo and check-up in the cardiology clinic, but Osaid’s cardiologist quickly discovered that he was dangerously dehydrated and his blood gas levels were very bad. She sent him right away to the emergency room, where the doctors admitted him to the pediatric ICU for treatment.
Osaid is showing improvement since his admission, but still needs some more treatment with fluids and medications in the ICU before it’s safe for him to go home. His parents were hoping to take him directly home after his echo and were a little disappointed that he had to be admitted, so please pray that this situation will resolve quickly so they can all go home together.
Our sweet Osaid finally got discharged after over a month and a life-saving surgery in Sheba hospital. It is nice, that he could go home, but I will surely miss holding him in my arms and talking to his lovely mother. We will meet them both again in a month for an Echo.
Our little boy recovered excellently from the Norwood-Surgery and we all hope that he will stay in such a good condition for a long time. Since he has the Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, he will need future interventions that are really risky, so please pray, that he will be safe through all of it and that he will be able to grow up like other children do.
Osaid is making progress. He has gained 1.6 kilos and is now weighing 2.6 kilos. This makes his mother very proud and happy and she hopes that she can take him home soon. The doctors at Sheba Hospital just want to make sure that Osaid is able at least keep the weight for a few days or even better gain a bit more before he can go home.
Our sweet Osaid made some great progress in the last few weeks. He had the big Norwood surgery exactly one month ago and he recovered really well from it. Today I found him laying in his bed without any wires or tubes, just by himself. He learned how to eat on his own and is considered to be a really healthy little boy. He only has to go one last step: gaining weight. He has to get a bit stronger to be able to go back to his beloved home to the Westbank. Please pray for him, that the Lord may help him with that last step and Osaid can be with the rest of his family very soon!
Osaid was moved to the secondary ICU in Sheba Hospital yesterday after he was doing well without oxygen support for a long time. When I visited his mother there, he was peacefully sleeping and she proudly showed me his cute outfit that she chose for him after only wearing hospital clothes since arriving there.
He is still very very skinny and needs to gain a lot of weight until he can be discharged to his home in the West Bank. For the time being, we pray that he will grow into a strong, healthy young boy.
When I walked into Osaid’s room in Sheba Hospital’s Pediatric ICU today, I was surprised to see him breathing on his own and looking around in his hospital room! I didn’t know he was successfully extubated, and so I was very excited to see the little boy awake for the first time! Later I talked to his mother and she asked me very proudly: “Did you see Osaid? He is better!”
Osaid has had some trouble breathing during the week. Every time we asked the doctors about his condition, they told us that they want to extubate him. They always said they will extubate him either today or tomorrow, but to our surprise, he still stayed intubated over the weekend.
When we asked the doctors about this, they explained to us that they had him extubated but he was struggling to breathe on his own so they decided to intubate him again. Now they will slowly reduce the support from the ventilator for the next couple of days and then hopefully extubate him soon. His mother is so patiently waiting and is always kind when I see her.
Osaid has lost a lot of weight since he’s been admitted to the ICU so she is worried about him but never gets so frustrated that she doesn’t want to show her son to everyone and proudly glance at his cute tiny face.
Please be with Osaid and his mother in prayer. Pray for his recovery and that he can be extubated soon.
After his first surgery in Sheba Hospital on Thursday, the doctors left Osaid’s chest open in case he deteriorated and they had to intervene quickly. Today his doctor had the good news for us that they were able to close his chest again!
Osaid is doing well after surgery so far, he is still intubated, but he is stable and recovering well. Thank you God for being with Osaid and his mother!
It was a surprise that when I walked into the ICU today, the room of Osaid was empty. Only his mother was sitting in the room. Osaid was scheduled for the Norwood surgery. This is one of the three procedures that Osaid needs for Hypoplastic Left Heart.
After six hours, the surgeon came out of the operating room to tell Osaid’s mother that everything went well. The surgery succeeded and there were no complications. Please pray for Osaid. The next days will tell if he responds well to the changes.
Two weeks old Osaid arrived to Sheba Hospital from the West Bank this evening with his parents via ambulance.
He is diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious heart condition. He will receive the very best care at the hospital and will hopefully have his urgent surgery soon.
Prayers for this little life are greatly appreciated.