Friday afternoon as the Shabbat was drawing near our partners at the Sheba Medical Center asked us to return newborn Mira to her home in Hebron, on a hilltop overlooking the ancient burial site of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah:
Mira had been rushed immediately after birth to the ICU in Hebron, and then to Israel for a life-saving catheterization. We were privileged now to be eyewitnesses of the first time her mother was ever able to hold her:
Families like these sometimes tell us that when you form a relationship with them, you’re actually reaching a whole clan of five thousand. The impact of each little life, multiplied like the loaves and fishes. Command the blessing Lord, life forevermore!
Little Mira has been waiting in the Sheba Medical Hospital Intensive Care Unit for a while now to be made ready for an intervention. Today was the day, and from early in the morning, for three hours the doctors worked on her with a catheterisation, to be able to dilate some blood vessels and help give her a chance to grow stronger.
It was good to meet her father, who explained that her heart problem is complex. It was also good to hear the happy news together from the doctors that she appears to be recovering very well as she wakes up.
We are hopeful that she will recover and grow strong, as we see what next steps are needed for her.
Doctors worked today to gain understanding of the complex anatomy of Mira’s heart, including a CT scan. Until they come up with a surgical plan next week, Mira remains snug and secure in the ICU.
Thank God, today precious Mira was safely transferred into the loving hands of the team at the Sheba Medical Center. Doctors will be stabilizing her and reassessing her heart condition in order to develop a plan of treatment.
Mira was hospitalized in Hebron when doctors discovered her heart defects shortly after her birth. On the second day she developed severe cyanosis and had to go on a ventilator. Later she was again able to breathe on her own, but kept alive pending surgery only through an intravenous medication to keep a ductus open in her heart.
After a wait of two weeks the hospitals in nearby Jerusalem still had no beds available for Mira, so we turned to our partners at the Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital. Our coworker Amar is working to arrange her urgent transfer.
Mira had been rushed immediately after birth to the ICU in Hebron, and then to Israel for a life-saving catheterization. We were privileged now to be eyewitnesses of the first time her mother was ever able to hold her:
Families like these sometimes tell us that when you form a relationship with them, you’re actually reaching a whole clan of five thousand. The impact of each little life, multiplied like the loaves and fishes. Command the blessing Lord, life forevermore!
