This week’s echo at Sheba hospital was more successful for little Mohammed. Doctors feel he is ready to return to Kurdistan but he will need to be on a medication for at least the next three months.

During the echo Mohammed didn’t cry and was very calm. I enjoyed the time with him again and am happy too to have this experience, seeing the development from the last echo and the release to Kurdistan.

Thank God for this good news.

Mohammed had an echo-cardiogram today at Sheba hospital. The echo results caused doctors to decide to keep Mohammed in hospital still until next week when he will undergo another echo. Doctors are concerned about an infection Mohammed has. A specific medicine is still needed to be procured as well.

We saw a physiotherapist also today. She showed us exercises to support Mohammed’s willingness and ability to move.

While spending time with Mohammed, it felt like God is giving me so much love for him and I enjoyed giggling with him and holding him.

Please pray for Mohammed, that he can go home very soon.

Mohammed and his aunt were discharged from Sheba hospital to our community home in Jaffa today, after being in the hospital for a bit longer than a month.

Mohammed is doing much better now and we are very happy that he is back at our community home.  Mohammed’s aunt needs to learn how to do many things for him.

Please pray that she can learn quickly and that she adjusts fast to the home life here.  Mohammed is supposed to go back to the hospital on Sunday for follow-up with the cardiologist.

The echo of Mohammed showed that there is no change yet with the infection in his heart. It hasn’t grown but it also didn’t get better. The doctor said that it might be a thrombose and not an infection. Therefore Mohammed has to continue his treatment with the blood-thinner Clexane and he still has to stay in the hospital. Please keep praying for this cute boy and his aunt who is taking care of him.

Mohammed’s echo showed that there has been no change in the infection in his heart, not worse but not better either. Please be praying  the infection will respond to antibiotics and that it doesn’t escalate to where he would need further intervention to control or remove it.

It is so lovely to see this boy awake and taking in the world around. While he does have an infection, the surgical repair looks very good, and for this we are very thankful.

The repair of Mohammed’s heart looks wonderful, but along with that, his cardiologist at Sheba hospital saw in Mohammed’s echo today, that there appears to be a small infection that needs to be observed and treated with antibiotics.

Please be praying that this isn’t the dangerous cardiac infection known as endocarditis that has affected many of the Kurdish children these past months. Please also be praying for his aunt who is finding it difficult to be in the hospital for this time.

Mohammed looked like a new baby today at Sheba hospital, when coworker Bria and I saw him. His mum had called from Kurdistan to see how her boy was doing, coworker Julio took that call.

Since Mohammed’s extubating last week, he has been doing really well. His aunt is asking when she can go to Kurdistan, to which we responded he must first be discharged from the hospital before we have an idea. But hopefully discharge is not far off for this little one.

Thank God Mohammed’s two-stage arterial switch surgery was successful, and maybe we don’t know exactly when, but that he will go home to his family, all eagerly awaiting him .

This morning at Sheba hospital, little Mohammed had a successful second surgery to correct the transposition of his great arteries. The surgery lasted several hours. Directly after, I was able to speak with two doctors and a nurse, all of whom gave the same optimistic report: the surgery was successful and Mohammed is stable and doing very well, though still sedated and needing intubation.

I had to wait for co-worker Julio, a Kurdish speaker, to arrive to translate the full report for Mohammed’s aunt, but I was able to tell her everything was “zor bash — very good!” She began to cry and kept repeating, “Hamdullah, hamdullah! — praise God!.”

While Mohammed was in surgery, I was able to spend much of the time sitting with his aunt, who was very nervous and eager for news. She has had quite a difficult time in the hospital being the only Kurdish speaker in the ICU, and I was grateful for other Kurdish parents also in the hospital, who stopped by and helped with translating updates from the doctors.

Praise God for a successful operation, and please pray that Mohammed will remain stable and make a full recovery.

Little Mohammed completed an X-Ray appointment at Sheba hospital.

His aunt, Mohammed and I needed to wait for the appointment, which meant Mohammed slept in the car and in the waiting room, but at the end of our wait and also during the X-Ray, he cried a lot. His aunt is very attentive with him.

The Nurse scanned Mohammed’s body and said everything is good. We were very happy about this result.

Mohammed is just one month and twenty-three days old; he and his lovely aunt came to Sheba hospital today for his first assessment. The echo confirmed his transposition of the great arteries, but he is on the edge of turning two months so there is not yet a clear decision regarding the need for a two-stage repair or just the one ‘switch’ surgery.

The echo technician remarked how well Mohammed did throughout the long study of his heart. He drank a lot of milk, which was the reason he kept so calm. His aunt, who is new to all of this as well, is really a kind and a diligent lady.

Please pray for both of them as their time here begins. Please pray especially for Mohammed’s surgery, as co-worker Colin wrote previously, Mohammed was recommended to come to Shevet when he was two days old, and in a week he will be two months, the lateness can lead to complications.

But God has preserved his life thus far, and so we pray and trust He will continue to do so.