Montaser’s big and risky surgery began at 8 this morning and lasted seven hours. I was disappointed to arrive at Sheba and discover that I had just missed him being taken into surgery. He is such a cute and precious boy, so dearly loved by his family and now the Shevet family.

My co-worker Elisa and I immediately sat down with his parents. For most of the seven-hour wait, we drank coffee, chatted and prayed, each in our own languages and ways. It was an anxious wait, especially as we passed the six-hour mark with no news.

Finally, the surgeon appeared. He spoke to Montaser’s parents in Hebrew, with another doctor translating into Arabic. Elisa and i could only guess from the facial expressions and gestures that things were very serious. Afterwards, Montaser’s father told us that a shunt had been placed, but that the situation was very difficult and fragile. Montaser was being moved to the ICU to be stabilised.

Once Montaser was stabilised in the PICU, I sought out his doctor to find out more.

The surgeon had placed a shunt from Montaser’s right ventricle to his lungs and also dilated his pulmonary artery. His oxygen saturation had been in the 50s before surgery, and during the operation he became “extremely sick” because of his dangerously low oxygen levels. His condition remains very fragile and, as the doctor explained, it could go either way.

The doctor told us that Montaser was born with incredibly complex heart anatomy, the kind of anatomy that many cardiac hospitals around the world would not want to operate on. Yet this doctor said they are very grateful to have the opportunity to help him.

To me, that is such a beautiful display of the Father’s heart through these surgeons and doctors: a willingness to take on the impossible because this precious little boy is worth fighting for.

Mum and Dad are so strong and so completely filled with love for their boy. We left Sheba with Mum and Dad sitting beside him, holding his hands and praying over him. Our relationship with this precious family has deepened so much over the past few days. They feel like family now, and it is such a privilege to be here with them through this incredibly delicate time.

Please pray that Montaser improves overnight. This little boy needs a creative miracle, a new heart! I’ve seen God do it before, He can do it again. Father, comfort and bless this beautiful family in Jesus mighty name.

Montaser and his parents remain at Sheba Medical Center in the pediatric ICU as his oxygen levels keep decreasing each day. Today his oxygen was consistently between 47 and 60. This is not a good thing by any means, and Montaser, who is already so small and frail, is in very serious trouble. Even so, he and his parents always have smiles on their faces. His parents are so strong as they remain by his side and tend to all his needs with the utmost love. They are constantly encouraging him as they keep watchful eyes over him. Their love for their precious son is evident, and alongside this, so is their worry for their son, though they do not show it to him.

Montaser was yet again sleeping peacefully with his parents by his side when I found him in the pediatric ICU of Sheba Medical Center. Though it was lovely to see them, it was difficult to see that he still has not been discharged. Just last week he received a catheterization. Most children are usually discharged a day or two after the procedure, but Montaser has been hospitalized for six days and will remain so. His oxygen levels are very low and doctors are struggling to undertake the cause.

Coworker Caroline and I found sweet Montaser sleeping peacefully today in the children’s pediatric ICU of Sheba Medical Center. After receiving a catheterization yesterday, he is doing very well, but unfortunately his oxygen is low. Because of this, Monataser will not be able to return home just yet as was initially planned.

During this time, his gentle parents stay faithfully by his side— it is evident that they deeply love their dear son. We spoke in quiet voices together discussing his condition, their family, and their home. It was a sweet reunion when Caroline and the parents realized they had met last year when Montaser had come for some echos. What a blessing that we continually get to spend time with these families year by year through their difficult medical journeys.

Montaser will remain in the hospital another night, and Lord willing he will be discharged sometime tomorrow. The plan is for him to return next week for an open heart surgery. May these days before be a time of healing, and sweet fellowship with his family. Together we entrust Montaser to the Lord!

Simple and still,

Montaser was wheeled off this morning for his interventional catheterization at the Sheba Medical Center. The goal is to both widen his narrow blood vessels and also map the anatomy of his heart before next week’s surgery.

He emerged two hours later sleeping, and was still groggy several hours later. He’ll be kept overnight for observation, then if all is well will return to his siblings near Bethlehem, and await his return for surgery next week.

Our sweet little friend Montaser rode with us down from Bethlehem this morning for admission for another interventional catheterization at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel.

He was cheerful and playful throughout the day. It is easy to see why he is doted upon by his loving family.

I spotted Montaser being carried by his father, his mother walking beside them. It was six in the morning and I had come to pick up Montaser and his parents near the checkpoint in Bethlehem. I pulled up in the van and they jumped in, happy and grateful for the ride. It was great to see this nice family again.

We made it to the hospital after I took a wrong turn back into a checkpoint, but praise God, we were not there too long. Montaser and his family arrived just in time for his appointment for a CT scan. Montaser had to fast before his scan, so his family brought plenty of food with them. They were very generous to share their Arabic flat bread and cucumbers with me.

I enjoyed chatting with Montaser’s father in the waiting time. He is a great guy, very caring and kind. Montaser enjoyed playing with a balloon he found, and we bopped and kicked it around the lobby. He likes to have fun and he did such a good job being patient and enduring the long waiting times while finding ways to play.

Please pray for Montaser, that the doctors can use this CT scan to understand how to best treat him. And pray for Montaser to be healed and strengthened.

Montaser and his father arrived in Bethlehem bright and early this morning where we collected them for the drive to Sheba Medical Center. Montaser had an Echo appointment to meet this morning.

On having examined the Echo results, Montaser’s cardiologist determined that further intervention is needed to increase the circulation between his heart and lungs. The first step will be a CT angiogram under full anesthesia to map out his precise anatomy. We’re now awaiting an appointment.

Then doctors will decide whether catheterization or possibly surgery will be the best way forward. It was a pleasure to spend a full day with Montaser and his father, and we thank God for giving us such fine neighbors.

I caught up with Montaser and his father today. Montaser was looking tired and hungry from an early morning trip from the countryside of Bethlehem to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. He was gobbling up the strawberry yogurt his father was feeding him while he eyed me cautiously.

We ran into a challenge for Montaser, as he was all out of medication and the internal pharmacy was closed to the public. I went to that pharmacy anyway, after being told it wasn’t available to us. And praise God, after being turned away by the first pharmacist, we prayed, and another pharmacist came and swiftly took the order out of my hand and promptly fulfilled the order without a word between us.

I am so thankful that God knows and cares for these precious children like Montaser. He was able to go home with his father shortly after receiving his needed medication. They were both exhausted from the long day of travel and stress of appointments. Please pray for little Montaser for his health to improve and his heart to be strengthened.

Today at Sheba Hospital, I got to see Montaser. The last time I had seen him was a couple months ago when he visited our community house in Lod with his parents. Then my impression was that he was a small, skinny kid with pretty severe DiGeorge syndrome. What a difference a couple months has made!!!

Today my impression was completely different. While still skinny, he is now quite tall and very intelligent. His father, who is a teacher, says he seems very normal. He is reading, talking, etc, all that is normal in a boy of four and a half.

The echo went well and Montaser handled it like a champ with no crying. He even started to giggle at one point when it seemed to tickle.

The Doctor said that he will need a diagnostic catheterization in the future to see if surgery will be needed to do further repairs.

Please pray that he will continue to grow strong as his father said he seems to have lost some weight and that the doctors will have wisdom as to what to do next.

Montaser returned to Sheba Hospital today for his first echo evaluation since his discharge after surgery. As always the love between father and son was evident from the start.

The cardiologist Dr Shai was pleased with Montaser’s condition overall, and in excellent Arabic explained to the father (as Montaser shyly hid his face) that he recommends waiting another four months for another evaluation before taking any further surgical steps.

In our Father’s providence, just then the genetics specialist Dr Ben emailed us to say he had results of Montaser’s evaluation two months ago, and wanted to sit with Montaser’s father.

Minutes later we were in his office for a lengthy consultation. Montaser is confirmed to have DiGeorge syndrome, and the doctor recommended that he start regular follow-up in a Sheba clinic which specializes in DiGeorge patients. The doctor’s compassion and caring was evident throughout the discussion, which ended with a warm hug.

A tired Montaser then slept for the ride back to Bethlehem, his father re-equipped with a three-month supply of medicines and specialized milk for weight gain. May God watch over him until we meet again.

After his surgery at Sheba Hospital several weeks ago, days of medical uncertainty, and unexpected delays, Montaser finally got to go home today! He was so excited to get to leave the hospital and get back home, he may have been the first kid I have seen who excitedly gave the nurse his arm to get the IV removed, and didn’t wince at all. Despite his dislike of the hospital, he sure didn’t hate the nurses and doctors, excitedly high-fiving them and celebrating his departure.

Montaser has been struggling with low oxygen levels since his surgery, and this was further complicated by an infection, doctors know they need to act again, and soon for Montaser, but they are giving him time to rest and regain strength in order to be more ready for surgery, whatever may come.

He was exhausted at the end of the day, and slept for most of the trip back to Bethlehem where he shyly waved goodbye to us and went home.

We will be seeing him very soon, and we pray he grows strong in the time in between.

Sadly there is only one update for Montaser today from Sheba Hospital. They figured out what his mystery infection is. Montaser has Covid-19, but at this point he is likely past the worst of it, since we believe he has been sick for about five days already.

Today he was in good spirits, playing and especially taking a liking to our volunteer Bethany whom he immediately wanted to go on a walk with. He was happy with practicing the precautions put forward, and by the end of the day, was getting plenty of rest.

Montaster is still struggling but slowly recovering from his mystery ailment, he hasn’t thrown up recently but he eats very little, and runs a fever constantly. Doctors are doing even more tests today to find out the cause of this. Montaser is still rather happy in the current predicament; he definitely wants to go home, and has made his plans to do so very clear, but it helps when little bits of home come to visit, mostly his dad.

I have enjoyed getting to see the family together, talking to them and just seeing the love they have for one another. In the meantime, we must simply wait, and hopefully we will get test results, and answers, back soon.

The doctor team at Sheba Hospital’s intermediate PICU, decided that it would be better and safer for Montaser not to have another surgery, at least not until he has grown bigger and stronger.

Despite Montaser’s continued improvement, he experienced substantial oxygen desaturation during the night, and so the doctors decided to hold him through the weekend.

He seems also to have some sort of viral infection which is tenaciously holding on to him, and his parents are dissatisfied with the slow rate of progress in dealing with it. We pray that he will quickly be restored to health and that he won’t end up needing another surgery.

Please join us in praying for Montaser.

Today I ran into Montaser on his way to a chest X-ray at Sheba Hospital, and I got the news that he wouldn’t be discharged today, which he was certainly disappointed about. However, he still is in high spirits, and happily accepted a treat I gave him.

I later spoke to his doctor, and found out that in the meeting regarding Montaser that morning, they decided surgery would be necessary, but when he will have it is still undecided. Because his oxygen saturation is still low the doctors want to operate quickly, so we will likely not see him discharged before his next surgery. I got to hang out with Montaser after this talk, getting to see him play with his dad and exchanging conversation in our limited Arabic and English.

Right now, we will need to simply wait for word from the doctor, on when he will have an intervention, and what it is.

Today Montasser was again eating well and looking cheerful! Praise God he has been moved out of ICU into the secondary – less acute unit.

Montasser’s oxygen levels remain slightly low and he will continue to be monitored. Montasser is keen to go home, to play with his siblings and see more of his dad.

Until that time he enjoys taking walks in the department, playing in the cars and eating snacks!

Please pray his oxygen levels improve and his mother is able to sleep better in this new room.

I visited Montesar at Sheba Hospital. His mother was in the room with him. He was enjoying a word game with a social worker, followed by playing with some canned spray foam. Soon afterwards his father entered the room and joined in the fun. I tried to communicate with his parents in English, but neither of them could understand me except when I mentioned I was with Shevet Achim. They also allowed me to take photos of them.

My visit was cut short when a nurse came in and told me I had to leave because only two visitors were permitted to stay in the room at one time.

I was also able to speak with Montesar’s doctor after the visit. He informed me that Montesar’s condition was improving and stable. When I asked him about Montesar’s infection, the doctor said it was ruled out by the results of a blood test.

Today we received  good news on our visit to Montaser. He recently was running a fever but doctors at Sheba Hospital got some test results returned that they ran on Montaser and it seems he does not have an infection like we expected, but the difficulty was in the changes that his little body was adjusting to! An infection would have, at the very least, complicated matters and extended his time in the hospital, and could have been much much worse. His oxygen is still low as his body adjusts and he is in some pain, but he is certainly improving.

Today he wanted to play with me, but wasn’t quite sure how to do so given his limited physical abilities, but his heart was ready to get back into action.

Hopefully we will see him improving more this upcoming week, gaining strength and being able to return home soon.

Just one day after heart surgery at Sheba Hospital, I was so pleased to see Montasser stable and extubated. What a joy!

After extubation Montasser was very tired and had some pain in his throat – making coughing or swallowing difficult. He was calmed and reassured by the voice and touch of his mother and is sleeping well.His mother remembers when at just four days old, Montasser was crying inconsolably after a medical procedure, when she was allowed into the room and spoke to him he was calmed – knowing her voice and its love.

Please pray as he rests that the pain would be gone and he would be growing in strength.

Montaser was sound asleep this morning when coworker Jonathan and I entered his room in the Pediatric ICU of Sheba Hospital. All was very quiet there. No medical staff had arrived yet to take him to the OR and he was resting up after having gone to bed at 1:00 a.m. on the eve of his surgery day.

His mother was thoughtful and quiet as she anticipated what the morning would bring. Shortly after this moment, a nurse came to take his temperature, his blood pressure and to wake him up firmly. Just a few minutes later, a team came in and rolled him off to the OR.

We spent the morning and afternoon waiting with his parents. We sipped tea and coffee and had a meal together with them in the waiting area. The time went by quickly.

A mere five and a half hours later, the operating staff was seen rolling Montaser’s bed back into the ICU:

We were greeted by the surgeon.

He explained that Montaser is stable after his surgery. Doctors are trying to recreate a pulmonary artery after damage done by an earlier surgery. It will take 6-12 months of growth to see if they succeeded. If so, they would like to do another surgery at that time to build on what was established today.

His parents are drained but thankful.

Montaser was admitted to Sheba Hospital this afternoon in order to be in hospital bright and early on Sunday morning for his open-heart surgery, scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. Throughout the entire admissions process, Montaser smiled. What a happy smile this little boy has. It’s always ready. Always willing. It sparkles like his eyes.

The paper work was one thing, and then there was the play area. That was quite another thing. There was a lot of fun to be had in this place. Montaser smiled with joy here.

And also here.

He really enjoyed the slide.

He was assigned room four in the Intermediate Pediatric ICU.  We’re trusting the talented team of doctors and nurses to do their job on Sunday with skill and wisdom acquired over years of experience.

And most importantly, we’re trusting God our Father in heaven to be watching over them and little Montaser, at the same time. Please guard this precious smile.

I visited Montaser and his mother at Sheba Hospital today. They seemed fine and in decent spirits.

Right away the little boy’s mother asked me if I could find some chocolate or chips for him. I happily made my way down to the cafe and bought him a bag of chips and a chocolate bar.

As I handed off these little treasures to the little boy, his face lit up. My heart filled with joy to see the simple pleasures of chocolate fill a child’s spirits with so much joy.

After a room change and a visit from the dermatologist with nothing concerning to report from his rash that had recently appeared, mother and child seemed more relaxed and comfortable.

Surgery is still scheduled for next week. Montaser is still being monitored as he is struggling with vomit yet still has a hearty appetite.  Still waiting on dentist to check his teeth.

Today Kerstin and I left early for Sheba Hospital to liaise with medical staff and check on Almontaser who had a catheterization earlier this morning to investigate potential Issues related to scheduling a surgery at a later date depending on the findings and the determination of doctors at Sheba Hospital. During our stay, I went and spoke with the appropriate nurse and requested an update on Almonaster’s procedure. I was advised that his report indicated that nothing of any significance was discovered.

Requesting when his surgery was to take place, I was advised that this would most likely be some day next week. I was informed that the exact date would in-all likelihood be scheduled tomorrow depending on the doctor’s ability to have time to schedule surgeries. On further inquiries I was informed to check tomorrow.

Today was Montaser’s admission to Sheba Hospital. Coworker Jonathan and I collected Montaser, his mother and his father at a crossing point with Bethlehem.

He spent a few minutes playing in the Pediatric Echo Department play area, he seemed thrilled to the point of stunned silence.

Hospital staff wasted no time getting the admission process rolling. The ECG was happening within fifteen minutes after our arrival. Muntaser took it all in stride, not a peep out of him. He was weighed after this. Then we were told to wait some more. No problem. Muntaser enjoyed himself some more.

Next was to go to the ground floor for an X-Ray.

And back up to floor eight for his echo. You can see below how good-natured Muntaser is. He smiled quite a bit for every exam.

 After the echo, the doctor had a talk with Muntaser’s parents. At first, he was focused and listening.

Then, he was too exhausted to carry on.

His nap lasted for quite some time. He woke in the Children’s Ward where his oxygen saturation reading was being taken from his little thumb, and it glowed:

Then Muntaser and his mommy were taken to their hospital room where they will sleep for the night. He will begin his fast and wake in the morning to his diagnostic catheterization some time after 8:00 am.

Our prayers are with this little guy. May the doctors find enough information via the cath to formulate a good plan for the surgery that’s best for Muntaser. Amen.

Montaser had unsuccessful surgery as a newborn in an East Jerusalem hospital. Now as he turns three years of age his cardiologist has asked us to help him get to an advanced center in Israel to help him live and grow. We visited the family home last night outside Bethlehem and found a sweet, humble family that with great love for their smallest member.

After today’s echo at the Sheba Medical Center, Montaser will be invited back for cardiac catheterization to try to unlock the riddles of his heart and prepare him for treatment.