Today for Gaza clinic we were anticipating a large group of children however only 2 children were able to come for an appointment. Both Malik and Saleh had an echo and ECG.
Malik is a 10-year-old clever girl who I had the pleasure of coloring with while we waited for her appointment. Today’s appointment was a simple follow-up for surgeries that she had when she was younger. Her results showed that her heart is still well-functioning, and she does not require any further intervention besides regular follow-up.
Saleh is a quiet 12-year-old boy who had a very sweet mum that helped us a lot with her English skills. His appointment was also a follow-up from surgeries when he was younger. His results showed that he will need surgical repair in the future. The doctors will continue checking his heart every six months with the plan to repair his heart in two years time.
Praise God that they both continue in good health! Please continue to pray for their futures and for the families that were unable to come for appointments today.
Little Sham had a tracheotomy this morning. We saw her after she came out from the procedure; she had had her head shaved, so all her beautiful black hair was gone. The hospital staff let me know that they are preparing to transfer her to a hospital back in Gaza, and they need to discuss and coordinate with Yousif to make a plan about this.
Please keep Sham in your prayers; her tiny body has been through a lot. Pray for his blessing and peace for her family. Praise God that he has been with her this whole time.
Today, we had the chance to get to know our Gaza families for the first time. Seven families, we welcomed in the morning and another one, our urgent Mohammed, came later. Two girls, our three-year-old Hoda and seven-year-old Heyat, will stay for their catherizations.
Our first impression of the Gaza children was that they looked happy and healthy. We did not expect them to look like that, because of their sickness and diseases. So it was really encouraging for us to see them!
Dima, who was nine years old, came with her mother. She has some speaking difficulties but that does not hinder her from being really happy and commanding us to take pictures with us. She had a lot of pictures on her phone which she liked to show us. It was her way of communicating and showing what she felt. She was very happy about getting attention from us and, even though she was in a difficult situation, it was not taking her down.
We also met two other one-year-old boys, Abd Allah and Yazan. Both of them have had surgeries, so they came for check-ups. The echos went well and they can go home safe.
At one o‘clock also our urgent child Mohammed arrived.
He is suffering a lot from his heart disease and therefore needs a surgery really soon. So God will, he will receive his open heart surgery next month.
Please pray for those children and their families as they are going trough a tough time even at the beginning of their lives. May God completely heal them and give them hope for the future. We also pray that he will comfort the families who recently lost one of their children, may he touch their hearts! Please also remember Yousif and Amar in your prayers as they are giving their best and doing such an hard, intense and challenging work with everything included the treatments of those families.
Being at Sheba hospital today, I was quite happy to see Sham again. The last time I saw her, her heartbeat was really high and her oxygen extremely low. But now, after an intensive care and many treatments, she is looking a bit better. Sham is still at the ICU. Today, she received a catheterization and a small surgery to put her dislocated vein from the heart to the lungs in the right position. And – thank God- they succeeded! A small step forward is done today for her. Now she is stable, but her grandmother is really exhausted. Please include little Sham and especially her family in your prayer. But please also remember the hospital team of Sheba Medical Center. They are really doing everything which is possible to save the live of each single child, no matter how big or small the success rate is. We can really thank God for leading all those people in this hospital and giving them so much encouragement, passion and patience to work as nurses, secretaries, charladies, doctors or anyone else to help those precious children.
Today, we welcomed quite a few active and sweet kids, their lovely guardians, and we had a nice day together. All of them came for follow-ups and – thank God – also everyone received good news. The echoes went well.
Most of the time, the waiting area was a big mess with toys everywhere and the children sitting right in the middle. But I found it nice just to distract the children and not let them feel the weight of being in the hospital. It also passed the waiting more quickly.
One of our artists was 6 year-old Moortaz. As you see in the picture, he was really precise. Also he gave a wonderful, unbiased smile.
Our little “doctora’s” name was Baraa. She really likes to play being doctor. In the end, we adults had received a full check-up by this 6-year-old girl. Fortunately, we are all well according to her examination.
The last girl I would like to mention is 4-year-old Laian. From beginning to the end, she kept a bit quiet. But she really got us with her beautiful, shy smile and her bright eyes. She also liked to paint, but enjoyed being a doctor too.
At all, we had a nice time together. Please pray for those families as they have to undergo quite a long procedure to attend examinations. And please also pray for all those families who could not come today. May God shine through us and cross all walls of language, prejudice and culture.
