Monday, the 28th, coworker Margarita went to pay a visit to a returning baby boy named Qusai in Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. She found this sweet little boy in the comforting arms of his mother, and was told by a nurse that he is recovering well, but will not be able to go home tomorrow because they have to do another procedure on Thursday.

It was a joy to see Qusai leaving the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem today after more than two months of life-saving treatment. Our coworker Berith exclaimed “Now he looks like a baby!” as compared to when he first arrived.

And what a transformation in his mother, who seemed numb and distant when she came to Jerusalem from Gaza for the first time in her life. Today she insisted on making the rounds to say goodbye to her dear friends in both the children’s department and the ICU!

The last farewell was to Berith at the Erez crossing back into the Gaza Strip. Qusai will be in a week’s quarantine there before he can meet his father and siblings again. Won’t they be surprised! We hope to see him back in December for another checkup.

After more than two months in the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Qusai had a final echo today to potentially clear him to return home to Gaza. The chief cardiologist Dr. Julius told us the heart is working well, and once his mother is prepared to manage his feeding tube Qusai will be heading home!

It was with great joy that I glanced into Qusai’s room today, facing the joyful eyes of his mother. Our immediate question was,”How is he? Is he okay?” and she said, “Yes!”

He has grown since the first time I saw him. It makes me so happy to see this. Co-worker Margarita asked his mother if she could hold him, and it was so beautiful to witness the following scenario.

Qusai fixed his eyes on Margarita’s face, and listened to her praying for him and speaking with him. He smiled, and his little chin started to shake. I thought he was about to cry, but he wasn’t. It seemed by the reaction on his mother’s face, that this is something he sometimes does. And then he started to hiccup. I have no medical expertise, but am myself a mother, this gives me hope. There is truly a fighting spirit in this little guy, and it makes the hope rise inside of me that he is on the right path. The path that leads to life.

Please continue to keep Qusai, his family and the medical staff covered with your prayers.

Even if Qusai’s start in life has been a rough one, it doesn’t mean it has to continue that way. To look into his eyes is a wonderful experience, because even if he is in the state he is right now, there is a curiosity in them. A strength.

The last time we were visiting, I whispered while talking to him, and it seemed like he was listening to every word. I spoke life into his body, i spoke of strength, and of hope, because as long as there is life, there is hope.

He has been extubated for the second time now, so please pray that he will be able to breath on his own successfully. He needs your positive support.

When we reached Qusai’s ICU room today we found doctors had to put him back on mechanical ventilation over the weekend.

Dr. Asaf, the attending physician, reported that Qusai’s heart is doing well, and he is taking nutrition, but an infection is keeping his lungs from functioning as they should. He’s on intensive antibiotic treatment, and doctors are hopeful when the infection clears that Qusai will be able to breathe again on his own.

Leen’s mother again came with us to support Qusai’s mother. I can feel the peace in Qusai’s mother, and I am convinced she will have a huge impact on Qusai’s healing process.

Keep this little fighter in your prayers, and also his family and all the medical staff.

We found precious Qusai still in the ICU this morning, on a high level of oxygen support but breathing on his own without mechanical ventilation, and seeming to squint back at us out of his left eye.

After trusting his life into the hands of the Lord, we took his mother out to the waiting area for a much-needed time of connection with another mother from Gaza:

Leen and her mother (pictured above right) are waiting with us in the Jerusalem guest house until Leen’s next appointment, and Leen’s mother was a wonderful encouragement today to Qusai’s mother, who is feeling very alone in this vast hospital.

I went to the ICU of Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem today to ask after Qusai. He was in surgery. An informed nurse said the surgery was complicated and taking some time.

I met and talked with Qusai’s mother who had a circle of other moms around her when I found her in a waiting room. She and I went for a walk while waiting; there is a hospital park area just outside. I used Google translate to chat with her. We had some coffee together.

Eventually, Qusai was brought back to the ICU. He is under sedation but, according to the surgeon, he is stable. The doctor said thaty this surgery prepared Qusai for the next surgery. If all goes well, Qusai will go home to Gaza and return to Hadassah Hospital after three months for an Echocardiogram.

Thank you all for keeping this little one and his family in your prayers.

When we arrived to the hospital room, Qusai’s mother was alone because they had already brought Qusai elsewhere to be tested. It was a long wait for this anxious mother. Via Google translation I tried to tell her that a long wait is a good sign. It means that the doctors don’t want to miss anything important that might equip them in helping her son in the best possible way.

A doctor told me that there are big problems with his heart, and that the road will be long. He said something that I have learned to live by, “We will take one day at a time.” He told me that Qusai’s life is stable, and I think that is the most important thing right now.

Please lift up this precious little boy and the rest of his family in your prayers, and especially his mother.

Entering the hospital room, I didn’t know what to expect, and there he was. Sedated, without knowing all the efforts going on around him from caring medical staff, Qusai rested.

A nurse gave him medicine through a vein in his little hand. All the machines he is wired to might seem scary, but what a blessing they are. He is intubated because he needs help breathing, and every change in his condition is closely monitored. The hospital crew is doing a marvelous job, I’m so happy he’s here. Even if it is a horrible state Qusay is in, there is hope. The peace that filled the room gave witness to that hope.

Please lift up this wonderful little baby in your prayers, and his mother who is with him, but also the rest of the family.

To the joy of his 28-year-old mother Qusai looked beautiful and healthy when born earlier this month. But he soon looked blue and had difficulty breathing.

At the hospital in Gaza doctors suspected a heart problem, and on echocardiogram discovered multiple complex defects.

He’s now in the ICU in critical condition and on mechanical ventilation, awaiting transfer to Israel–his only hope to live. Doctors at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem are working to make a place for him despite crowding caused by Covid-19, and have asked us to bring him on Sunday, August 2. Please ask God with us for grace for Qusai until then, and for all the days of his life that will follow.