Rahma went into an echo at Sheba Hospital today, a week after her surgery discharge.
She is doing really well. The doctor saw that her heart is perfect and she almost wanted to discharge Rahma to her own home, but she thinks it’s better to wait for three more weeks. Just to be sure that Rahma is stable.
It is normal to wait a month after surgery until the doctor is sure that a child is stable. I’m happy that the doctor is careful, even though she is very sure that Rahma will be okay in three weeks. Rahma also needs some neurological follow-up, but this will be in three months in Kurdistan.
Rahma’s mother asked me to hold her daughter for a moment, so she could get some water. I enjoyed it, to hold her in my arms, knowing that she is doing very well.
It is rare that one of our Kurdish kids doesn’t come and stay in our family house in Ashdod for a while before they can even see Sheba Hospital, but it was the exact opposite for Rahma and her mom. Rahma was rushed to the hospital from the airport nearly a month ago, where she and her mother stayed until her recent discharge to our home. Staying in the hospital so long had definitely taken a toll on her mother, so they were eager to be released, and to come home with us. Rahma’s mother only speaks Kurdish so translating in the hospital was hard, and she was often all alone, but now she is with a community of other loving Kurds whom she can communicate with and get news from.
Doctors are optimistic about the rate of Rahma’s recovery, and we all hope she can soon return to Kurdistan. The drive home was stressful, as we had a large donation of bowls, plates, cups, and other fragile things in our trunk, and this sweet delicate little child fast asleep, so I drove carefully to keep our special cargo safe. When we got closer to Ashdod, she did wake up and started a little fuss about being hungry, but she quieted down when she got home.
Rahma and her mother are quite happy in our family house, her mother is getting to speak with other Kurds, and Rahma seems to enjoy not being in a hospital bed all day and getting to see and hear other kids.
Going forward we are praying for a smooth transition for Rahma and her mother, and that her recovery will continue as well as it is, and furthermore that God may reduce, if not eliminate the neurological damage Rahma seems to have.
Rahma has been healing nicely over the last few days at Sheba Hospital. She’s slowly drinking more and more milk and being weaned off more and more medication.
Her mother is adapting in her own way to her language barriers, keeping a few translating friends ready on speed-dial to call at a moment’s notice.
Rahma is experiencing some slight neurological problems, not enough to warrant deep concern, but enough to be investigated; she is currently awaiting the results of a genetics test to see what potential causes of this may be.
Pray for good news and that she’ll quickly finish her recovery! We’re eager for her and her mother to join us in Ashdod and have some friends around them.
At Sheba Hospital, Rahma and her mother have been waiting patiently for any type of news or development, and so far to no avail. Every idea the doctors have evaporated, every trail goes cold, and it seems that it is impossible to know what is going on.
Rahma has an unknown neurological issue, at first it was just a seizure but now she is having many seizures. Doctors hoped it was just withdrawal symptoms, but after monitoring her brain and performing CT Scans, it is clear that the brain itself is the problem, but what specifically we do not know.
Because of her neurological issue, she can’t stop crying, and she can only cry one way, it is a deep, hoarse cry from the bottom of her stomach, and it is worrying her mother to no end. When I went into the room, she asked me with desperation why her beautiful daughter was crying so much, how could she help her, and how could she make it stop. It was clear to me that this tormented her to no end, to see her child in this state, but her love simply amazes me. She doesn’t leave the hospital room, she doesn’t get some headphones or block out the noise, she waits by her daughter’s bedside table day and night, listening to the cries, because she loves and cares for her so much. While each sound must break her heart, she remains by her daughter’s side, wanting to comfort her child, and not herself.
This demonstration of love from Rahma’s mother reminds me of our community’s recent study of Hebrews. In Hebrews, we see how Jesus has felt pain as we did, but through this pain he stands by us, desperately interceding on our behalf; even if our failure hurts him he still comforts and defends us out of love. In much the same way Rahma’s mother intercedes for her child; despite each heartbreaking cry, which she could easily leave or ignore, she stays by her bedside asking questions, working to comfort her daughter, and pushing her through the care of the doctors.
Her endless devotion and love pushes me forward to fight for these kids however I can too, no matter what I have on my plate, I give what I have to fight for these kids when I can. Our community is spurned on and built off of a love like this, one represented every day, and defined by Messiah.
Today when I visited little baby Rahma from Kurdistan, a group of nurses eagerly asked me if I spoke Kurdish the second I stepped through the door, and my no was greeted with some disappointment and confusion. They explained to me that the monitor showing Rhama’s SPO2 (the amount of oxygen in the blood) was broken, and it was showing a very low number, but really Rahma was doing well. They couldn’t explain this to her mother, who was nervously pacing around the room looking at that dangerously low number. We set out to translate it, so after searching the hospital floor and several phone calls, we got someone to translate, and you could see the relief and happiness from Rahma’s mother instantly.
Rahma’s actual state is a small mystery at this point, she had a seizure after her surgery last week, and at first, the doctors thought that she was having repeated seizures, but now they think it might actually be withdrawal symptoms from the change of medication after her surgery. Doctors will do an EEG test tomorrow to record brain activity and see which it is. Until we figure that out, we don’t know what the future will look like for little Rahma, but as of now she is stable and in all other areas recovering from surgery well.
When I visited Rahma at Sheba Hospital today, her mother was sitting in the corner of the room, patiently waiting and looking how the nurses and doctors were taking care of Rahma a minute after extubating her. I decided to sit down next to the mother and wait patiently together with her.
Rahma had a rough weekend as she seemed to suffer from several seizures. This gave her mother a lot of anxiety. The doctors gave Rahma medications against it and since then she seems to be doing better. Slowly, they are taking Rahma off of the seizure medication and now they even extubated her. Just after the extubation, her oxygen level went up and down several times, but the nurses did not really seem to be worried about it.
In the end, Rahma’s mother was laughing. She saw Rahma after extubation, with swollen eyes. It looked funny to her. Thank God that Rahma’s mother still has humor in this stressful time.
This morning I came with coworker Bjorn to Sheba Hospital and went straight to Rahma’s room. Rahma’s mother was trying to calm her baby down. Rahma was very hungry because she needed to fast for the surgery. After waiting for a while, the surgeon came and explained to Rahma’s mother what he will do in surgery. Then, Rahma was taken to the OR. Her mother kissed her goodbye and didn’t seem nervous at all. Half the time she was walking around to get some things from the supermarket and she was alone in her room a lot to call with her family. After 4,5 hours, the surgeon came to the waiting room and said that everything went well. He was able to switch the great arteries without any complications!
Thank God Rahma is doing well! If Rahma remains stable, she will be extubated soon.
Little baby Rahma arrived today from Kurdistan, northern Iraq. She came with her mother and a nurse from Canada who traveled with them as a medical escort. Coworker Keyla and I were at the airport to find and greet them.
I drove Rahma, her mother and the attending nurse in our Shevet van directly from the airport to Sheba Medical Center where Rahma was promptly admitted.
Rahma needs surgery soon to switch her big arteries. For now at least she needs oxygen-support, as she experienced some low oxygen saturation on the flight here but recovered and is now stable.
Your prayers for this new arrival are appreciated.
Rahma went into an echo at Sheba Hospital today, a week after her surgery discharge.
It is normal to wait a month after surgery until the doctor is sure that a child is stable. I’m happy that the doctor is careful, even though she is very sure that Rahma will be okay in three weeks. Rahma also needs some neurological follow-up, but this will be in three months in Kurdistan.
Rahma’s mother asked me to hold her daughter for a moment, so she could get some water. I enjoyed it, to hold her in my arms, knowing that she is doing very well.
It is normal to wait a month after surgery until the doctor is sure that a child is stable. I’m happy that the doctor is careful, even though she is very sure that Rahma will be okay in three weeks. Rahma also needs some neurological follow-up, but this will be in three months in Kurdistan.
Rahma’s mother asked me to hold her daughter for a moment, so she could get some water. I enjoyed it, to hold her in my arms, knowing that she is doing very well.
