Today our little Sanad came back to Sheba Hospital for his pacemaker follow-up appointment. He and his mother came to the hospital by themselves, so we met them already in the pacemaker clinic. Sanad was very proud of his lollipop and showed it to every one of us.
At that moment he and his mother were still waiting to talk to the doctor about the pacemaker Sanad has had placed for half a year now. Unfortunately we couldn’t attend the appointment and met them later again to talk about what happened.
Thank God that pacemaker works really well and Sanad is doing pretty good. He will only need to come back in six months for another follow-up.
And you can also see that Sanad is doing very well. When we met him the second time, he was fooling around, running through the hallway, full of energy and joy. It was so wonderful to see him like that, bigger and less scared than in October when he was admitted to the hospital. He is growing really fast and is an extremely happy child.
Praying for Sanad to remain that happy and joyful child.
Sanad was recovering great after his catheterization. Already at Thursday night, just some hours after his cath coworker Petra and I met him in front of the children’s hospital with his mom.
Today he was happy and walking around but not allowing anyone to touch him except for his mom. Sanad is doing so well that he got already discharged back home today and so we waved goodbye to our cute boy and his mom. We will see them again in one month for another follow-up echo.
Thanks for your faithful prayers for this happy boy!
When coworker Craig and I came to the hospital this morning, we found that Sanad was in catheterization. I was surprised that he had a catheterization today, since the doctors hadn’t mentioned it yesterday. However, his mother was doing very well, and enjoyed talking with the other moms who were waiting with her. After about four hours, Sanad came out of cath. The first words the doctor said to Sanad’s mom were, “It went perfect.” Sanad was already waking up. He cried when I walked in because he thought I was another doctor. However, after a while she calmed him down, and he fell asleep. The doctors were able to do three balloons in his heart to widen the pulmonary arteries. Praise God for a good cath! Please pray he continues to recover well.
Late Sunday night, little Sanad was admitted to the Sheba Hospital with pericardial effusion, a buildup of fluid between the tissues surrounding the heart. However, now he is doing much better. The doctors were able to treat the problem, and he is doing very well now.
We didn’t know which hospital room he would be in, but we found him without even trying! He is in the same room as another of our babies, and so when we went to visit the other baby, I heard a familiar giggle from the other side of the room – and there were Sanad and his mother!
Sanad is such a happy, smiling little boy. As soon as I picked up my phone to take a picture of him, he looked over his shoulder and put on a giant smile.
The doctors say all that they want to see before discharging him is that he’s gaining weight. That is very good news for him! Please pray that he will gain weight, and that he won’t have any more post-surgery complications.
We got a call from Sheba Hospital’s ICU on Friday morning that Sanad is doing very well and is cleared to return home to Hebron. This came just eight days after his major surgery to place a pacemaker and reroute blood from his upper body straight to the lungs.
We’re so glad to see Sanad recover so quickly, and we’re looking forward to seeing him again when he returns for a follow-up echo next month.
Today brought the good news that Sanad is doing very well. If his oxygen saturation doesn’t worsen during the next 24 hours, he can get discharged tomorrow.
Cute Sanad was a little afraid of us today as he wasn’t sure if we were doctors or not. He will be very happy to go home again!
Thank you Lord that Sanad is doing so well and recovering so perfectly from his big surgery!
Walking through the Pediatric ICU of Sheba Medical Center, Children’s wing, I accidentally bumped into a woman. Turns out Sanad’s beautiful mother was going to their hospital room so she invited me to visit little Sanad. He was lying in his bed watching some cute animal videos when he turned his head and laughed at me.
I felt like he wanted to show me something and when I asked his mother, she got out some bubbles. Little Sanad was so happy and his smile made me forget that I actually was in the ICU. His nurse told me that after his surgery, Sanad still has some drainage and they are currently observing his condition. Prayers go up for this little one.
We went to Sheba Hospital for a few visits and appointments today, one of which was to look in on little Sanad.
Sanad has been moved now to the secondary Pediatric ICU and seems to be doing well. While this is a very good sign, it is not yet known when Sanad will be discharged. There’s more work to be done.
Thank you for keeping this little fellow in your prayers for a complete recovery to full health.
Sanad finally had his surgery at Sheba Hospital today to make his blood in his upper body go directly to the lungs to get oxygen. It went all well and for now he is stable. His blood pressure as well as his saturation are good for now. He also had a pacemaker placed.
His mother was really worried about Sanad and kept walking up and down, but there were some mothers of other children she talked to and accompanied her a little. Shortly before we left after being with her the whole surgery, she thanked us for staying with her and we could see that she meant it.
Please continue to pray for Sanad and his recovery. He still has a lot of treatment to undergo and the doctors will need wisdom to treat him right.
When we entered the big room in the Intermediate Pediatric ICU at Sheba Hospital today, we met Sanad’s mother. Communicating with hands because coworker Elise and I don’t speak Arabic, she told us that Sanad is doing good after his cath last Tuesday.
Behind the curtain that separates the room, we found little Sanad sleeping peacefully. He will need surgery in the next few days or maybe next week, but the nurse told us that they don’t have an exact date so he and his mother still have to be patient and wait for the next steps.
Please pray for strength and endurance for them. We also want to pray for the doctors and their work they do to save Sanad.
Sanad just finished undergoing a catheterization at Sheba Hospital. It went well, though it was a little bit more complicated than the doctors had expected.
They had hoped to expand one of Sanad’s arteries, but decided not to. The information collected from this catheterization will help the doctors know what to do in Sanad’s surgery on Thursday.
Sanad is waking up now, while his sweet mother holds his hands. Please pray for this adorable little boy and his upcoming surgery.
We had the pleasure of visiting Sanad at Sheba Hospital, after the results of his CT were made known. The doctors have decided to order a cath for Sanad in the next few days.
Sanad’s mom is always encouraging him to interact with us; he was a little shy because it was the first time he saw us, but also he thought we were medical staff, so he was very afraid to play with us. We saw a little of Sanad’s smile after he found refuge and safety in the embraces of his mother.
We will be praying for Sanad’s next and best step.
Today Sanad had his first CT at Sheba Hospital. With this CT scan, the doctors want to see what they have to do next so that they can decide on a treatment plan for him. After entering his room to visit him, we found Sanad sleeping. He must be really tired from his appointments.
Please pray for Sanad over the next weeks he is in hospital as it won’t be easy for him and may be tiring. Let us also pray for the doctors and medical staff.
Two years ago, little Sanad from Hebron had surgery at Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. He’s now growing close to needing a second operation, and the doctors at Sheba hospital agreed to accept him.
Sanad and his mother traveled alone to Tel Aviv yesterday morning for his first evaluation at Sheba hospital. We were surprised later in the day to hear that Sanad had been admitted to the secondary ICU after his echo.
That’s where I found him this morning, relaxing with his mom and watching YouTube videos. His mother explained that his oxygen levels were too low during his appointment yesterday, so the doctors decided to have him stay in the hospital while they decide what to do next. They haven’t determined the next steps for him yet but for now he’s stable and patiently awaiting their decision.
Please pray for wisdom for the doctors at Sheba as they review Sanad’s case and make a plan of treatment.
Sanad’s mother was finally able to join his father at the ICU bedside this afternoon, and she was met with good news from the doctors at Hadassah. They’re hoping he may come out of this with two functioning ventricles, rather than going down the single ventricle route which requires three surgeries and still leaves the heart seriously weakened.
Sanad was successfully weaned from the ventilator today, and is stable. But as the father commented, when Sanad opens his mouth to cry still no sound comes out! Let’s pray for him to grow into the fullness of all God has created him to be.
We worked with Israeli authorities today to allow Sanad’s father to reach his bedside just following his emergency surgery today. Doctors successfully corrected the coarctation of his aorta and applied pulmonary banding to protect his circulation until a second surgery can be performed in a few months.
The next 48 hours will be critical, we are trusting the Father’s good purpose for the life of little Sanad and for his family.
After languishing several days in hospital in Hebron, the Lord opened the door for Sanad to be rushed to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem this evening, where we found him undergoing his first echo exam in the ICU:
After clarifying the anatomy of his heart, doctors hope to take Sanad to surgery early next week.
Meanwhile our coworker Margarita gave Sanad the most important care: the love every baby (and every one of us) needs.
Today our little Sanad came back to Sheba Hospital for his pacemaker follow-up appointment. He and his mother came to the hospital by themselves, so we met them already in the pacemaker clinic. Sanad was very proud of his lollipop and showed it to every one of us.
And you can also see that Sanad is doing very well. When we met him the second time, he was fooling around, running through the hallway, full of energy and joy. It was so wonderful to see him like that, bigger and less scared than in October when he was admitted to the hospital. He is growing really fast and is an extremely happy child.
