I met Asmeen’s mother in the Pediatric ICU of Sheba Hospital today. She was pleased to see me, and to tell me that her lovely daughter had her surgery this morning! What a surprise!
Sadly, I could not to speak with a doctor or a nurse to get more information. But the surgery was not a long time and when I met the mother, small Asmeen was already in her room again at the ICU on the sixth floor. And she did pretty well!
Last week the doctors told us they want to make an operation on her diaphragm to make more room for the lungs. We pray that the surgery will help to improve our lovely Asmeen!
Sweet Asmeen is awake and looking beautiful today! We saw her mother with the other Kurdish mothers outside the Sheba Medical Center Pediatric ICU for some time together today.
Thank God for restoring Asmeen’s mother’s peace again. I was so happy to receive this video from her of Asmeen! I realized that despite them being in Israel for a month now, I have hardly seen Asmeen, as she has spent almost the entire time in hospital and we now cannot visit her in their room.
Asmeen is scheduled for a surgery on Sunday to help improve lung expantion in her chest space. After this, there is a new hope that Asmeen can breathe on her own, and perhaps could be then extubated.
Thank you for your continued prayer for this little one.
Asmeen’s mother was quite upset today when co-worker Alena and I saw her in Sheba hospital. It has been a long time now that Asmeen is intubated after her surgery, and her usually positive mum is finding it hard that she doesn’t speak much Arabic or English, but Kurdish.
Our hearts broke for her as she tearfully showed us the apps she has downloaded for learning English on her phone, as she is so desperate to be able to understand a bit more about the condition of her baby. At the moment, we can’t enter the ICU due to corona restrictions, so not being able to speak to a doctor on their behalf can compound a difficult situation for some of our parents here who speak only Kurdish.
Thankfully, God opened a way for us today, by a very kind nurse who presented our case to the Cardiologist who heads up the care of the ICU children. We were so grateful for her time, where she gave us a full explanation of Asmeen’s current situation, and plans for the future.
She explained that the surgery for the heart had been very successful, and the heart looks well. The complex problem facing Asmeen now is that she has Pulmonary Hypertension, coupled with an unusual bone structure of her ribcage. This means that although her Pulmonary Hypertension is managed well through medications, breathing is still difficult for her, as the chest cannot expand in the typical way. This is why it has not been possible to successfully extubate her as yet. The doctors are going to discuss her case and see whether a surgery can be done which might help her breathing function.
Thank God that the good news is that Asmeen in some ways is recovering well. Please pray for peace and strength for her mum, who has been in the hospital since the day of Asmeen’s first assessment now.
Asmeen’s mother was not feeling too well today. She is a very brave and easy going person, but many days in the hospital can take their toll. We got her outside for some fresh air, and she felt better. Asmeen is in the process of recovering which requires great patience, moreover she is still intubated. So please pray for her mother to remain calm and patient.
Asmeen had a CT scan today, and we hope to find out the results of this later in the week.
Our little Asmeen is still at the Pediatric Intenstive Cardiac Care Unit at Sheba Medical Centre. Her mother met me there. She looks rested and she was happy to have a visit.
Asmeen is doing well. Her physical condition is stable and yesterday, she was extubated. But she was not quite able to breathe independently as yet, so our sweet girl had to be intubated again.
She is in Gods hands, and He cares for this blessed child!
Asmeen’s heart surgery was planned for last Sunday at Sheba Medical Center, but was re-scheduled for today. Co-worker Carina and I went to the hospital to spend the waiting time with Asmeen’s mother. While Asmeen was in surgery, we found her mom to be very upset. When she saw us, she fell crying into my arms. But after a while she calmed down a bit and stopped crying.
Even though I don’t speak any Kurdish, we were able to spend a good amount of quality time while we waited. We sipped coffee and tea together and I thanked God we were able to talk at least a little bit together and understood each other from specific contexts. It was a mix of German, English and Kurdish, it was a good fellowship together.
The whole surgery of Asmeen took about five hours and thank God, everything went well. After the doctors brought her out of the surgery area, they moved Asmeen to the 6th floor. Her mother and I still had to wait in the waiting room for half an hour as staff prepared everything. We spent that time with me learning some Kurdish, and her learning some English which was fun and difficult at the same time for us both. After half an hour, we were able to get into the ICU.
The surgery was successful, thanks be to God. Please continue to pray for the lovely mother of Asmeen, that she would remain at peace, and for the precious life of little Asmeen, that for the next 24-48 hours, all concerned would be wise and vigilant as they care over this critical time of Asmeen’s recovery.
Beautiful Asmeen was wide awake when I visited her at Sheba Medical today. I was surprised at how tiny and delicate she is and how little space she took up in the crib, but her big eyes were taking in the room around her.
After many tests, she is on the schedule to receive surgery on Sunday! Her mum was excited about this news but took it with steadiness. Please pray for this lovely family as it is the first surgery of Asmeen’s young life and her mother’s first experience of major surgery for her child.
I found Asmeen sleeping in her room today, recovering from the earlier anesthesia, as she had the CT scan as arranged yesterday.Asmeen needed a scan of many areas of her body, which the doctors will look at next week, to make their assessments. Asmeen was recovering and had a tube of oxygen flow near to her which helped her saturation to read higher than usual. Mum was in a good mood, and is coping bravely in the hospital. They will stay in the hospital over the weekend before the doctors make their assessments.
Dear Asmeen had her first trip to Sheba hospital today. She is very tiny, and coped with the assessments very well. The doctor saw her echo, and also saw that she has some other problems in her body, all of which he promptly decided needed further more detailed investigation. Asmeen was swiftly admitted to the children’s unit, along with her patient and sweet mother, with the idea that she will have the CT scan for all parts of her body requiring the assessment.
Thank God that she is able to receive the assessment here, and please pray they it will be possible to treat Asmeen here.
Asmeen and her mum travelled with four other Kurdish families, arriving in Israel last night. It was a long day, and they were both tired when they arrived. Asmeen is the only child of her mother, and is three months old. She has a diagnosis of Persistent Truncus Arteriosus, which means that her oxygen level is very low. Asmeen will see the doctor on Wednesday to make a full assessment of their condition. She and mum must stay in quarantine with all the other Kurdish families for two weeks, so please pray for an easy settling-in period for them.
I met Asmeen’s mother in the Pediatric ICU of Sheba Hospital today. She was pleased to see me, and to tell me that her lovely daughter had her surgery this morning! What a surprise!
