I went to Sheba hospital’s pediatric ICU to see how Mohammed is doing after his surgery yesterday. He is doing well. His situation is stable. Today, doctors reduced the Morphine, so that Mohammed can wake up. When he wakes, they can proceed to extubate him. Then they will see what the next step is. While I was in the room, he was already waking up a little bit.
His aunt is a great woman. She is sometimes hard to understand, but she knows that Mohammed is okay for now and she is very grateful. She says ‘Inshallah,’ (Lord willing) and ‘Hamdullah,’ (praise God) all the time.
Please pray for Mohammed’s situation and for his aunt. Thank the Lord that he is stable for now.
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.
It is a day after the surgery of Mohammed. Today Georgia and I came by at the ICU to see how he and his aunt are doing. The aunt welcomed us warmly with a hug. It is hard for her that she can’t speak with anyone because she is the only Kurdish woman in the ICU, so she was glad that Georgia was able to tell her how Mohammed is doing.
The doctor said that Mohammed is doing well. Of course we have to wait and see how his body will react to the surgery and if the organs will adjust to the changes. He needs a lot of haemodynamic support right now, but he is slowly improving over the day.
Thank God for this news. Please pray that the situation will stay stable and that he will improve everyday.
Today at Sheba hospital, the first of two surgeries for baby Mohammed took place. Today’s procedure included a BT shunt and a pulmonary artery banding. These were preparations done to make ready for the arterial switch operation in the coming weeks.
His aunt was holding him to comfort him before his surgery as he had been fasting since early this morning, and his mother would often call from Kurdistan. One of the best things about today was getting to speak with his mother over video call. She could see him after the surgery, and I was reminded that he is someone’s dearly loved baby. Though she can’t be with him now, he is her treasure nonetheless.
Thankfully this operation was quite quick. His aunt was very happy to hear after about three hours that everything had gone well. Please pray for him as his body adjusts to the surgery, and for the next days of his recovery.
At the moment, Mohammed is the smallest one of the children we have with us here at the Shevet community house. He is here with his aunty instead of his mother, but he is being well looked after, and seems to have at least five more “mothers” in addition to the aunty.
These beautiful Kurdish ladies are a lovely group, and are caring for Mohammed generously. Here they are all together this evening packing Mohammed and his aunty into the car, just before he travelled off to be hospitalised this evening.
Tomorrow, Mohammed is due to have the first of two planned surgeries required to switch his great arteries. His aunty is a little worried, but has a soft heart and a good attitude towards the unfamiliarity of the hospital and language.
Please pray for healing and safety for Mohammed’s life.
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.
Mohammed Mahdi arrived in Israel yesterday along with his Aunt and a group of Kurdish families also requiring help for their children.
Mohammed is almost two months old. He was referred to Shevet Achim at the age of two days. When we received his report, he was not even given a name as yet. After he received his passport and was given the name of Mohammed, we urgently submitted a visa application on his behalf. His entry permit to Israel was only granted two days ago. We are thankful that he was able to travel with such short notice.
At the age of two days, a local cardiologist performed a Rashkind procedure. This was much needed emergently, as his oxygen level was 40% prior to this procedure.
Please pray for Mohammed and his aunt as they adjust to life in Israel. We also pray for the doctors and staff caring for him.
