This morning coworkers Petra and Luisa collected Ahmed and his escort at Erez boarder crossing and brought them to Sheba hospital.
There, Ahmed had an echo and ECG and his doctor was very happy about his situation. Ahmed is doing very well and doesn’t need to come back for follow up appointments anymore. His doctor here at Sheba is in contact with his doctor in Gaza, so if there is any deterioration of his condition, Ahmed can come back to Israel. Ahmed and his mom have been very happy about this news and enjoyed going home to Gaza today.
Thank you God that Ahmed is doing so well! Please keep him safe back home in Gaza.
‘Mufaja halua,’ is what I said when I saw eleven year old Ahmed and his mother. I hadn’t recognized his name when I saw he had an appointment at Sheba hospital today, but of course I remembered this sweet boy and his lovely mother when they arrived to the hospital.
The check-up for Ahmed, who had a catheter ablation in his heart back in March, was quite quick and with a very good outcome. His ECG especially showed that the results of catheterization he had six months ago, were still very good. He will be seen again in March of next year.
Ahmed and his mother were a sweet surprise today, and even though I couldn’t be with them on the drive back to Erez border crossing, we planned for next time in March, that we would all take that drive together.
Ahmed went home to Gaza today after his cath yesterday at Sheba hospital. I found him and his mum waiting in the hallway of the children’s ward this morning.
Ahmed had a big smile on his face and his mother jumped up and said, “We can go, we can go!” The report for his discharge was done in the next half hour and from there we left the hospital.
As we walked out together, she reiterated to me what she said two days ago, “My six month old son is crying so much at home, I need to return to him.” I told her thank God it has only been three days because most of the time, the children we see are in the hospital for much longer than this.
Please pray that Ahmed’s heart will continue to function well after his cath ablation. We will see them again in three months for a follow-up.
This morning I went to the adult building at Sheba Medical Center because Ahmed was taken there for his catheterization. This was unusual for me and I was not sure if I would find the right place, nor Ahmed’s mother. As he has been before, the Lord was with me today and I found Ahmed’s mother immediately without having to search for her.
When I arrived, Ahmed had already been in his ablation cath for one hour. His lovely mother was afraid for her first-born son, but there was a kind nurse who spoke Arabic and tried to comfort her. I offered her to come with me and sit down near the surgery area, which is where we spent the waiting time together. She told me she has three other children waiting for her back in Gaza. She received some phone-calls and was crying silently because she was very worried. I tried to comfort her with a hug.
The were in the waiting time altogether three hours, when a kind doctor came out to tell us in Arabic that everything went well. Ahmed’s mother was very happy to hear this beautiful news and was thankful to the doctor, but first of all to God. The cath completed, we went together to an area where we waited until her little Ahmed was awake, which took half an hour.
His lovely mother was faithfully by his side the entire time and put a blanket on him when he began shaking a bit. When I saw this act of kindness, I could tell that she loves him very much and he showed his love to her as well as he took her hand when she wanted to move.
Today, he was moved back to the ward where he was before and was confined to his bed until three o’clock. If everything goes well with him, he can already be discharged tomorrow. His mother can’t wait to be back home. She told me several times that she loves all her children and that they are waiting for her. So your prayers for Ahmed and his lovely mother are much appreciated.
When I was twenty minutes into the hour-long drive to the Gaza border, I realized I didn’t have an infant car-seat. I had assumed it was in the backseat, but for some reason it wasn’t, and I’d have to turn around to get one. I called co-worker Georgia to double-check the age of the child and I ended up very happy that I did because it turned out I didn’t need a car-seat after all since the child I was picking up, Ahmed, is eleven years old!
Ahmed and his mum came out of the border crossing in the early afternoon, and we drove to Sheba hospital. He had an ECG and an echo when we arrived. Ahmed has an electrical problem in his heart which the doctor said was quite obvious from his ECG reading, and that this test would suffice to plan for the catheterization.
Doctors decided Ahmed will go into to an ablation catheterization tomorrow. We waited into the evening today for his room in the ward to be made ready. During the waiting time, we played many rounds of tic-tac-toe. We played perhaps eighteen rounds of this game to which he quickly figured out a winning strategy, and beat me most of the time.
From the hours we spent waiting together, I grew to understand that Ahmed is a precocious, kind, and patient child. It made sense to me that he is the oldest of his siblings. Please pray for this sweet boy as he goes into his cath tomorrow, and also for his mum who has a six month old baby she would like to return to as quickly as possible.
This morning coworkers Petra and Luisa collected Ahmed and his escort at Erez boarder crossing and brought them to Sheba hospital. 
