The decision was made that Aya would be discharged from Sheba Medical today. She told co-worker Georgia and I that as soon as we get back to our Shevet community home, she wants to see our community dog ‘Shevie,’ which of course is a top priority for this sweet girl. Aya also showed us some artwork she had drawn of a dog meant to resemble Shevie.
While waiting to be discharged, Aya worked on decorating a doll that an art teacher who works in the hospital gave to her, and this turned into a medical experiment when the art teacher introduced a cannula which they inserted into the plush doll and they gave the doll a corona test with a ‘corona testing swab kit.’
Aya’s eventual discharge went smoothly. She and her mother have eagerly anticipated this moment all week, so thank you God that it is here. Please continue to pray for Aya as she regains her strength convalescing in our community home in Jaffa.
It was so good to see Aya today in the secondary ICU. You need only look at her to see that she is recovering well. She enjoyed seeing co-worker Georgia today. I showed her videos and pictures of our community dog, Shevie, whom she loves, and told her that Shevie was waiting for her to come back.
For me, the best part of visiting Aya was seeing that she is once again her pre-operation self; the same spark in her personality is still there. I’m so happy for this because the experience of open-heart surgery is often a traumatic one for older children, and they all respond differently after it. This doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been extremely difficult for them both.
Please pray this week, that they would be able to come back to Jaffa community home again to help soothe their hearts and minds.
We love this sweet girl, and look forward to having her back with us soon.
Aya has been moved down into the Pediatric Intermediate Intensive Care Unit today. Happily for me, this means that I was able to visit her. She was able to offer a weak smile, and showed me some photos of her previous days in the ICU, and orientated me around her various plasters, cannula locations and so on.
She later had a task of blowing through a tube, (creatively adapted to inflate a glove) to help strengthen her lungs. She rose to the task bravely and without complaining, despite being in some pain.
I was so impressed with how well Aya is handling her time in the hospital. The nurses seem to be enjoying her company as well, of course! They told me that Aya had her chest drains removed today, and hopefully after a few more days and some close monitoring, might be able to return home to our Shevet house.
Our dear Aya has come out on the other side of the surgery process, and is awake and extubated already! She is trying to speak a few words too, so it is really good news that despite the big surgery yesterday, she is recovering so quickly. She does have some fluid in her chest still so this is being watched.
Her mum is faithfully by her side of course, and we are missing them at home.
It was a big day today for our lovely Aya. She was almost six hours in her heart surgery at Sheba Medical Centre. Her lovely mother was worried for her daughter and by Aya’s side all the time until she had to leave her with the doctors.
The Lord knows and He gives us in His perfect time whatever we need sometimes before we even ask. During the long hours of surgery, there was a lovely woman coming out of nowhere and she told us, that her son had gone through three surgeries in the last year and is doing very well now. It was the heavenly comfort from a mother’s heart to another mother’s heart! Then the doctors came out twice to us to tell us the surgery was going well.
Thank God the surgery went so fast and successfully. After surgery, she was moved to Pediatric Cardiac ICU and hopefully our lovely Aya will recover well. Please keep praying for this wonderful girl!
Aya’s mum has been earnestly asking about the outcome of Aya’s CT scan. Today, the answer arrived. Early in the morning, we received notification that the hospital would like to invite Aya in for an echo, and admit her for a surgery tomorrow.
Aya and mum have been in Jerusalem for a couple of weeks staying at our Shevet Guest House there. They returned to our Jaffa house on Wednesday. It had been lovely to have them back with us. Aya is so full of life, she enjoys the beach and going out with “Shevie,” our community dog. Her mum is so much fun, as well as an excellent cook, and made a huge platter of the Kurdish speciality, “Dolma” for our Shabbat dinner on the weekend. We all loved it.
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It was really nice to be able to spend a long time with them both today, waiting for the admission process which included an Echo and a Corona test. Aya’s mum is worried about the surgery for Aya, as she knows it’s a big surgery, involving problems with two of the valves in Aya’s heart. Aya, on the other hand, is fairly excited about the surgery, as she is hoping for an iPad afterwards. Or it is possible that perhaps she is hoping to be able to take Shevie home to Kurdistan.
They are speaking to Aya’s dad often; Aya is the only child and they seem like a really lovely family.
Despite a very long wait to know the result of the corona test, we saw a lot of kindness and patience from the staff in the hospital today, to ensure that we were comfortable in our waiting circumstances.
Please pray for Aya and her mum as they are spending tonight in the ICU, next door to three of our other Kurdish families in Sheba hospital at the moment. We’re asking for God’s blessing for the surgery tomorrow.
When Aya and her mother went with me to Sheba for a CT scan today, I was amazed when she started dancing and singing in the waiting room. She showed a lot of courage while doing so, in front of a lot of strangers, but most of all despite her anxiety for the echo. Waking up from the sedation was a bit scary for her, but her mother’s loving care comforted her.
You gain a lot of strength while not bowing down to fear, and her reward came on our way home. We went by train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and she was so thrilled about it. This was her first trip by train, and I could almost touch her excitement. I’m so happy and proud on her behalf, because in her age you are aware of what’s going on, even if you don’t fully understand it. This is a brave little girl, and she deserved a reward.
Please pray for her to continue to sing and dance to gain strength in life, and pray for the medical staff to make good decisions about her up-r>coming operation.
Aya had an early trip to the hospital to get attached to the Holter monitor. It seems a familiar test for her, so it was an easy and quick appointment.
She will wear it at the Shevet home for the next 24 hours, and the results will be sent to the cardiologist to help decide about her surgery plan.
Aya was dressed beautifully for her first trip to Sheba Medical Center here in Israel. The doctor saw her quickly. As her mum speaks Arabic, they were able to have the whole discussion about Aya’s condition easily. Aya’s Mum is very organised and capable. She brought many papers documenting Aya’s history.
The Sheba hospital doctor confirmed the diagnosis first coming from doctors in Kurdistan, that there is a problem with Aya’s mitral valve which will need repairing, or perhaps replacing. She will also need a pulmonary valve. Aya also needs a Holter ECG assessment, which is scheduled for tomorrow.
The doctors then need to have a meeting to discuss Aya’s surgery plan.
Co-worker Julio and I met nine year old Aya and her mother from the airport yesterday. They traveled with three other Kurdish families, on board one of the very first flights arriving in Israel from Dubai.
Aya is a very sweet girl, wanting to help out and play with the other children. She doesn’t have brothers or sisters in Kurdistan, so being here at Shevet Achim gives her an opportunity to gain two young brothers and a sister for some time!
The doctor in Kurdistan has sent her here with the recommendation that she needs a replacement of her mitral and pulmonary valves. The doctors here will make their assessments this week, to create a plan for her.
Mum told us that Aya has already had a heart surgery shortly after birth. She was born prematurely at seven months, weighing just 1.6 kg. She has experienced symptoms related to her heart condition all her life, such as having very little energy, and needing to visit the hospital often. She has required resuscitation before as well.
Despite these difficult years, Aya is a beautiful, bright and kind girl, and it is a real pleasure to have her and her mum in our Shevet home.
Please pray for the best outcome for Aya during her time here.
