Today, we arrived at Sheba Hospital early for Sanad’s scheduled catheterization.
When we got there, we learned that the procedure had been canceled because he had developed a fever. While we were disappointed that the catheterization was postponed, we’re grateful the doctors caught his illness beforehand. We didn’t spend much time with Sanad today because of his sickness. We wanted to avoid spreading any illness to the other critically ill children in the hospital.
Even so, we talked with Sanad’s parents some, exchanged fist bumps with Sanad, and even got to give his father a ride to the border with another Shevet family. The doctors aren’t concerned about Sanad’s fever, and he was discharged from the hospital and returned home. We should hear soon about when his catheterization will be rescheduled.
Please pray that Sanad remains healthy until his new procedure date and that he recovers from this illness quickly.
Spiderman, video games, and big high-fives were three things I quickly discovered six-year-old Sanad loves. He and his parents came from the Hebron area this morning so that he could be admitted into Sheba Medical Center for his catheterization which will be taking place tomorrow morning.
While waiting to be admitted, there was a lot of spare time on his hands. To pass that time faster, Sanad showed me a number of fancy spiderman tricks which he was quite proud of. He also showed me his favorite video games. After he got bored with that, he had a good time giving the biggest high-fives his little body could manage. He is a very energetic boy. Looking at him, one would assume he is just like any other boy his age.
Unfortunately, the active nature of little Sanad is deceiving. Though he is in good condition overall, there are some medical signs that may be implying there are more underlying issues. For example, Sanad’s lips were noticeably blue. Upon asking his mother about this, she said it was normal for him due to his low oxygen levels. This was confirmed during the electrocardiogram that Sanad received which measured his oxygen and blood pressure as well.
After also receiving an echo, Sanad was admitted into the ICU in preparation for his procedure in the morning.
Please join us in prayer for Sanad as he faces his catheterization. May the doctors have wisdom as to the best course of treatment, and may his parents both have peace.
Lastly, please pray for Sanad’s overall health and for his oxygen levels to improve. He is in the hands of our Lord!
It was fun to see our friend Sanad again. When he saw me he had an intense grin, which made me laugh, and we all laughed together. Ironically, he pulled out a big bag of junk food, right before his dental appointment. His favorite snack was a peanut butter doodle type snack like the Israeli favorite called Bamba, but it had a big muscle man with a red eye on the packaging. Sanad was pretty excited about the muscle man, then pointed to me, but he was not impressed by my flabby bicep flex.
Sanad is a five-year-old boy from Hebron who came to Sheba Medical Center’s dental clinic today with his mother. Sanad normally visits the cardiology department with us, but it is important that his cavity was removed because the infection can affect his heart health.
Sanad did a great job listening to the dentist and the dental team did a wonderful job taking care of Sanad. The dental department reached out to Sanad’s cardiologist to discuss the proper medications. The dentist ended up pulling the tooth out that had the painful cavity. Sanad now has the tooth in a small plastic bag to show his friends.
We expect to see Sanad again soon, but next time will be for another heart appointment. Maybe next time I see Sanad, I will bring him some Bamba.
Five-year-old Sanad and his mom from Hebron came to Sheba Medical Center to have Sanad’s pace maker checked.
Sanad also received an echocardiogram, an electrocardiogram, and a cardiologist visit. He is very active and we had a fun time playing in the lobby of the children’s heart hospital while we waited for the various appointments. Sanad was very uncomfortable and upset with having an echo and he wriggled and writhed as the operator tried to calm him.
Afterward, the doctor recommended getting a blood test to confirm if he needed iron supplements. So, we went downstairs to get blood drawn. The nurse taking the blood is very gentle and excellent at what she does. However, once Sanad found out he was going to be poked with a needle he went into fight or flight mode. I had to hold his arm down so that the blood could be taken. The nice nurse gave Sanad a holiday gift, a Purim box of sweets, candy, and a grogger. I taught him how to use the Purim grogger in the bomb shelter later that day.
We also stopped at a cart full of toy flutes and balloons. The young woman working at the toy cart inflated the balloon and twisted it into a dog, but the tail was too long, and not knowing what to do she twisted it into another dog head and handed it to Sanad. As we rode up the elevator with a doctor from the heart department , I mentioned the two-headed dog of Sanad, and said, “it is like the verse in the Torah that says, “God make us the head, and not the tail!” (Deu. 28:13).
When we returned from the blood draw, we needed to wait an hour until the results came back to the doctor. Sanad opened his gift box and I came over to see what he had received, but he was still mad at me for holding his arm during the blood draw. He turned to me and said, “GO!” When I helped to show him how to use his helicopter toy, he was delighted and we were friends again. We had fun together flying the helicopter high into the domed ceiling of the lobby.
Before the end of the day, we were able to get Sanad some new medicine, and we hope to see him again in six months.
Please pray for Sanad to continue to be strengthened and be healthy.
Today at Sheba Hospital, I met Sanad for, what I believe is, the first time. He seems to be a sweet, but kinda grumpy kid.
When I first went to say hello to him, I was greeted by a snarl. He bared his teeth and yelled when I told him he looked like the Hulk. However he did slowly warm up to me.
Praise God Sanad’s Echo, ECG, and pacemaker-check appointments all went well!
Sanad came to Sheba Hospital today to have an Echo done and some blood drawn.
The doctor said everything looks good with his heart, but he will come back in three months for a check-up on his Pacemaker. They are waiting for the results from his blood test to see whether or not they will take him off one of his medications.
He is such an adventurous fellow, keen on exploring (the WHOLE hospital) and socializing with the other kids.
Both Sanad and I got an early start to our hospital duties today, with each of us arriving just around 8:00! Sanad and his mother got off to a good start on their own, finishing the echo and EKG easily.
After a brief chat with his doctor, we were off to do a blood test, which while he did not enjoy, he was quite easily able to recover from it and be back to a good mood.
Soon after his blood test we were off to the pacemaker clinic. It was a longer journey than usual because Sanad found it funny to run ahead, and when he ran out of breath to turn and stop us, till he regained himself, and then continued running.
After a brief report from the pacemaker clinic, a positive one at that with no new information, we returned to his doctor in the cardiology wing. There the news was also good, his heart and blood were in good condition, and his only change was a reduction in his magnesium medication.
This was the end of Sanad’s day of running about the hospital, and he was exhausted, falling asleep in the waiting before getting his perscriptions. We will see him in a few months for his routine follow-up, and we are praying for his health till we see him again.
After a couple weeks of waiting for his meds and sats to balance out, Sanad was finally discharged home on Sunday. He was quite happy to leave, and in good spirits as his mother and I took all the bags down to the sidewalk where their car would pick them up. Praise God for his healing! He’ll be back in one month for his next follow-up echo. He will need regular blood testing for likely the rest of his life in order to maintain consistent INR levels. Pray for his well-being in this and full restoration.
Sanad, who has been in the hospital for a few weeks now, unfortunately won’t be discharged this week either, but we are hoping that next week we will see him discharged back to his home in the West Bank.
Sanad is doing well in all respects but his INR levels, simply the ability of his blood to clot. It is important to monitor since it can relate to his blood pressure and general heart functions, so doctors are working to increase and decrease medications to equalize his INR. Hopefully by Sunday they will have been able to wean him off medications while preserving his INR levels.
Sanad is ready to go home mentally; he is certainly bored in the hospital, and often jumps back and forth between anger at any interaction, and joy upon seeing us. He enjoys playing but just cracking through his more rough external shell can certainly be tricky. He was quite pleased with the disposable glove elephant we gifted him, and as a whole his mood for the day was improved.
We are hoping to see a discharge for young Sanad in the early days of this upcoming week, and he and his mother certainly are too.
Sanad is recovering well enough today from his surgery at Sheba Hospital, aside from some pleural effusion happening around his right lung, which is essentially a build up of fluid that needs to be drained out. To remedy this they installed another chest tube into the less than enthusiastic Sanad. One moment he was roused from his sleep and the next the doctors are swarming to do some mini surgery. Luckily it is a small process and he will hopefully have been able to go right back to sleep.
This is the next step of his treatment, and doctors hope to move him into a less intense unit once his chest is drained, because everything else is looking very good for Sanad! He is getting stronger and his heart is functioning and healthy!
Coworker Kate and I arrived to Sheba Hospital today and were pleased to find Sanad extubated, propped up in bed and fast asleep! He received a solid report from his ICU physician, who said they were pleased with his progress thus far. He is eating small amounts of food already, but is struggling some with post-op nausea and vomiting unfortunately.
The doctor reported that there is a small area of concern in one of Sanad’s lungs that they will be imaging today to look at further; he also received a blood transfusion while we were there.
During our visi, Sanad’s mom showed us pictures of Sanad and his siblings, expressing that they all missed him very much. Please join with us in praying that Sanad will continue to recover and will be able to go home and rejoin his family very soon!
Today we saw Sanad into his surgery at Sheba Hospital. He was happy and laughing leading up to going into surgery, which is unusual, especially at the age of four.
We sat for about seven hours with Sanad’s mom during his surgery. She was very calm, which I thought was very impressive. When he came out, he was doing really well and they are looking at extubating him soon, God willing.
Please pray that his recovery goes well, as his mom has mentioned that he has had issues with his diuretics during recovery in the past.
After some trouble at the border Sanad got to Sheba hospital to be checked in later than usual, but this very well may have been a blessing in disguise as it was the quickest hospitalizations I have ever during my time working in Sheba Medical Center; Sanad is a boy who has trouble sitting still, so we were more than grateful for the pace of the nurses and doctors.
Sanad is getting a Fontan surgery tomorrow, which he has been waiting and preparing for for some months, and we are excited to see how the surgery goes tomorrow. We are praying for good results for this great little kid.
Today Sanad returned to the hospital, just one day after his last visit with us. He performed both an echo test and a pacemaker interrogation. Both yielded good and helpful results. His pacemaker battery will last for likely another seven years! His heart will soon need the Fontan procedure to be performed however, ideally within the next couple months, and he’ll be on a new medication until then.
Pray for him! He’s a happy little boy, who, after he gets over initial shyness, is very eager to play and to laugh and to demonstrate his mighty strength.
We trust God to preserve and deliver him through both the waiting and the surgery to come.
Today I met with Sanad and his mother at the Sheba dental clinic, for an appointment I didn’t even know was happening until the day before. Sanad usually works with our brother Max, so he was a little disgruntled to see me instead, but he quickly warmed up to me.
However, it turned out that my lack of knowledge was appropriate rather than an oversight–Sanad’s appointment was a mistake which the dental clinic forgot to cancel! They performed a courtesy examination and didn’t charge us anything for it, which was gracious on their part. Although we don’t work with the dental clinic as often as the cardiac, whenever we do they are unfailingly kind and gentle toward the children we bring to them. We’re grateful for their work.
Sanad and his mother returned home afterwards. They’ll be back tomorrow though for further treatment.
Today Sanad and his mother were pleased to be discharged from Sheba Hospital and able to go home after his cath yesterday. What a blessing to be recovered so swiftly with only two small plasters left to show for the procedure. Sanad’s mum reports that he slept well, and was back to his usual jolly self. Next they will await a date for Sanad’s surgery.
Today Sanad was first in for his catheterisation at Sheba Hospital. He was sleeping through all the preparation and moving. The most wakeful he became was when the anethestist was putting him to sleep! Sanad’s mother was calm and appeared at peace during the procedure.
During the cath the medical team placed two balloons to increase the diameter of Sanad’s vessels. They reported that during the procedure Sanad’s blood pressure and oxygen levels were low, however they were able to manage this safely throughout.
The doctors were pleased with the cath and can now be continuing to plan Sanad’s next surgery.
After the cath Sanad’s mother was amused by his snoring and recorded this for his later viewing! Later still when he had woken up Sanad was very content watching videos.
After some delays, rescheduling, confusion, and an accidental discharge, Sanad was back in Sheba Hospital today and ready for his catheterization! He was happy to see me, eager to play his favorite game: punch Max in the stomach.
He was dressed very well, even with a nice little fedora on. Although being so well dressed must have taken a lot out of him because I found both he and his mother fast asleep in their rooms once they finally got hospitalized.
Tomorrow we will see him go to a catheterization, and we are praying God will bring him through well.
Due to an emergency catheterization for one of our other patients, Sanad’s catheterization at Sheba Hospital has been moved to another day, hopefully this Thursday. In the mean time he will get a CT scan, and stay set in the hospital till then.
Sanad is in Sheba Medical Center tonight waiting eagerly for his catheterization coming tomorrow morning. This is the end result of countless echoes and tests, so we are excited to see this progress made.
He was not happy to be back in the hospital, especially to see all the doctors and nurses ready to poke and prod, but when he saw me, he cheered up, and then immediately tried punching me in the stomach.
We are praying for a safe and successful procedure for him tomorrow, and have faith that God will carry him through.
Sanad came back to Sheba Hospital just a few months after his last pacemaker clinic, and was surprisingly in a good mood with being back.
His family wanted to get home early to prepare for Eid Al-Fatir, the closing Ramadan celebration, so they got there earlier than I. By the time I arrived, Sanad was just waiting to speak to the doctor, happily playing and eating snacks.
After some more playing, we spoke to his doctor who said Sanad will need another surgery, but first a catheterization is necessary. Doctors will plan this catheterization, but in the meantime a dental checkup and potential cleaning will be required for Sanad.
We are praying to see all these procedures occur quickly and safely for Sanad so he will be happy, healthy, and fully recovered soon.
After a long delay from the turmoil of our current situation here in Israel and the West Bank, we finally got two West Bank kids into Israel today for pacemaker check-ups at Sheba Hospital. I had the pleasure of hanging out with one of these little boys, who was named Sanad. He was a lively, happy, loud, and mischievous boy, at first shy but warming up quickly. The doctor checked his pacemaker and said that all is well with it, but did think he should get to a cardiology clinic soon.
Afterwards, while we waited for their ride to come, we played with another Kurdish child, and he snuck snacks out of his mom’s bag. He was not very discreet about it, and his mom did not care anyway, I think he just liked the challenge of it.
Hopefully we will see Sanad back soon for an echo, and we can look at where he will go from then on.
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, we arrived at Sheba Hospital early for Sanad’s scheduled catheterization.
