This morning our cute Huda underwent a Catheterization in Sheba Hospital. I met Huda’s mother in the waiting area. Knowing my Kurdish is limited, I was very thankful for another Kurdish mother who assisted in translation for us and was accompanying Huda’s mother from the start. But she could not stay with us the whole time and soon left us. Huda’s mother was very sad. God met us however, in a most unusual way and I’m so thankful and glad to share how He did this.
We were not a long time alone, when a lady came to the hospital to see Huda’s mother. She was like fresh water to us. She gave many hugs to Huda’s worried mother and gave her encouragement. She did this speaking in Arabic, as she also did not speak Kurdish. She brought us coffee and biscuits too. In the midst of all this supportive kindness, I had to think about the Shevet Achim verse from Psalm 133, “BEHOLD HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT IT IS, FOR BROTHERS TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY.”
It was also a blessing from God that we didn’t wait a long time for Huda’s return. A doctor came to speak to us and explained what was accomplished. The Catheterization was successful. The Lovely Huda will be needing some medicine for her vascular system. Her mother was so happy to see her daughter. When we came to the ICU on the sixth floor, the sweet girl was awake. Her mummy could give her milk to drink right away. She could immediately care for her beloved Huda. The blessed girl was also without oxygen.
All the glory to our God! Thank you so much for your prayers for they are effective!
Despite the fact that little Huda is the first child of the young, loving mother, it seems that she already has years of experience with children.
When I visited little Huda and her loving mother today at the Intermediate Pediatric ICU at Sheba Medical Center, her mother was eating a meal. Friendly as she is, she also offered me something, but I gratefully declined.
After a while, a nurse came in to check Huda’s vitals and I had a chance to ask her how Huda was doing in general. The nurse was very friendly, and told me today Huda was good, but on other days also rather worse. Huda became restless and cried when the nurse checked her vital signs, but of course her loving mom took care of her, held her in her arms and calmed her down.
Unfortunately, precious Huda needs a Catheterization, but it is not known when as yet. Your prayers for this little girl and her worried mommy are appreciated even now.
To check on how she is recovering after her surgery, Huda had an Echocardiogram at Sheba Medical Center today.
She has a virus at the moment, and has been a little dehydrated which has caused her mum to worry. Thankfully the doctor reassured us that it’s a problem easily solved.
From her Echo results today, we heard that Huda has Pulmonary Hypertension. Likely this is due to the fact that she needed to wait until she was about three months old before she could have access to a surgery, which makes it complicated for her. The doctors will see how she fares over the weekend, and determine what management is necessary for Huda. It could be that she needs a Catheterization.
Please pray for Huda’s recovery and for her mum to continue both with strength, and without worry. For with God, all things are possible.
Today, Huda was moved into the Intermediate Pediatric ICU at Sheba Hospital. Her mother welcomed co-worker Georgia and I into her new hospital room and was so excited to show Huda to us, especially because we could read in the monitor that Huda’s oxygen was 100% without any supplementary support.
While we visited them, Huda’s mother had Viber calls from her husband whom we were able to meet. Afterwards, Huda’s mother remarked that Huda’s father is calling often to see how his first and only daughter is, and they are both so thankful for her progress.
As we visited, Huda was slowly waking up from a nap, and her mother brought us over to her crib. She became focused on playing with Georgia’s glove for a few minutes before we left.
Thank you all for praying for Huda, it is very good she is moved down to the Intermediate ICU level and God willing she will be well enough to return to our Jaffa community home next week!
Huda is waving hello to everyone who is following her story and praying for her! She is still up in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Sheba Medical Center, where she is on high flow oxygen, and is sporting a fever today.
Her mum remains in a bright mood, as always, as she remains by the side of her precious girl.
I came today to the Pediatric Critical ICU at Sheba hospital and was not allowed to visit her mother or her small daughter there, because of minimizing the rist of Corona virus infection.
The nurse was so pleased and lovely to take time for me. She was telling me that Huda was extubated. The beautiful girl got better and her recovery is improving.
Our Heavenly Father is with her through all your prayers! They are planning on move Huda to another side of the ICU on the six floor.
Huda is recovering well in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit of Sheba Medical Center after yesterday’s surgery.
Her recovery is slow, but she is doing well. Mum is coping gracefully despite being in the unfamiliar environs of a hospital. She is taking it in her stride, which has the potential to be more difficult for her, as she speaks only Kurdish. Thank God, she is always in a bright and thankful mood. One of the other Kurdish mothers sent her a cake, which helped to encourage her also.
I arrived to the room of Huda just before she was wheeled into the surgery room. Mum was quietly stead throughout the whole experience, and after wiping away a couple of tears, she declared that God knows best, and is in control of the situation; “Xhua gawrea.”
And with that, we began the hours of waiting. Huda appears to have captured the hearts of many people, as there were many emotional messages of support coming in from across the world! Huda’s mum was joined by other “Shevet Achim” families, both Kurdish and Gazan, all familiar and expectant of the surgery process.
After five hours or so, Huda was rolled out of the surgery room enroute to the ICU, with her mother rushing behind as they squeezed past an Orthodox Jewish young man in the hallway:
One of the doctors happily remembered the Kurdish word “bash” (good), amongst the happy news that the surgery had been a success to switch Huda’s great arteries, and close two holes in the heart.
Huda’s mum was delighted to see her daughter, and the large group of us hurried upstairs to the ICU. Huda was set up in her room after a fairly short amount of time, and mum was able to peer with joy and interest at her baby.
Please pray that Huda continues to be stable and recover well for the next 24 hours.
Precious Huda would like to announce that tomorrow is going to be her surgery day! She is feeling very happy about it and hopes that everything will go well.
We all love this special girl and her lovely young mum. After they finished their quarantine last Monday, they spent a lovely time together with us at our Shevet home on the Jaffa coast. Last weekend, Co-worker Carina and I went to the beach together with Huda and her mum and some of our other lovely families. We had a beautiful time.
Please pray for peace for the mother of Huda; Huda is her first child and this must be a trying experience for her, for her family. Pray for a safe and successful surgery for this beautiful baby tomorrow. God bless the surgeons and nurses and care staff, may He watch over the whole process.
Huda had her first appointment at Sheba hospital today. It is not her first time in a hospital environ-ment, as was obvious from how afraid she was of all interventions today. Each time her mum placed her down on the bed to remove her clothes for the echo, she cried and was only consoled when her mum picked her back up and cradled her in her arms.
Despite her crying, the staff today were able to get the necessary assessments done, which were an echo, ECG, blood test and X-ray. All of the information from these tests will be gathered and discussed by the medical team to make a plan to help Huda by carrying out a surgery.
For now, she has returned home and will wait to hear from the hospital.
Huda and her sweet mum arrived in Israel last night, travelling with four other Kurdish families. Huda is the first child from her parents, and has a diagnosis of dextra-Transposition of the Great Arteries (d-TGA). Huda has had a catheterisation in Kurdistan, which created a hole in her heart, helping more oxygenated blood to be able to reach her body. She was almost two months old when she was diagnosed and they carried out this procedure, so it is a miracle that Huda is alive and in a fairly good condition. She is smiley and drinks milk very happily. Huda will have her first assessment at the hospital on Thursday. Please pray for a good outcome for her!