Hedi 'passed' his echo-cardiogram today and is now released from Wolfson to recuperate at the Save A Child's Heart house. He had his operation barely 10 days ago, and by yesterday his condition was confirmed stable 24 hours after the oxygen tube was removed from him. 
 
Dr Houri had given me the go-ahead when I asked if the children who have had their operations could be given effervescent Vitamin C drinks once their conditions are stable. So yesterday, I made the fizzy orange-flavoured Vitamin C drinks for Hedi and Rayan at the hospital.
While Rayan finished his drink, feisty little Hedi seemed more interested in play than drinking or eating. It is a joy to watch how young children like Hedi can easily forget their painful wounds so long as they have something new or fascinating to capture their attention!
 
When I lifted Hedi up to burp him, he noticed something on my jacket even though the color of this object was black on my black jacket! Guess what this object is, and click on arrow below to watch a video of what Hedi did with it...
 

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Looking at Hedi's toothy smile, you would think that he is one happy boy inspite of having gone through an operation just a couple of days ago, at such a tender age. And you are right, Hedi is a cheerful baby, curious about what goes on around him, and is even more curious over the protruding 'eye' of the digital camera pointed his way.
 
Nevertheless, his generally cheerful countenance belies the fact that it hurts where he has been operated on. Today, while my camera was trained on Hedi, he suddenly sneezed and immediately cried, albeit for only a short while. The 'force' of his little sneeze jerked him and increased the pain he is beginning to feel more acutely, as the sedative which he had been given after his operation fades.

As long as Hedi has something new or interesting to focus his attention on, he would forget his discomfort. Such as when I gave him a clip-on koala which Jai's friend from Australia brought to Israel on her recent visit. After a couple of minutes, Hedi started to whimper. His mother figured it was time for his feed and started to prepare his bottle while my digital camera came to the rescue to distract Hedi. Well, as you can see from the video at the bottom of today's blog, Hedi seemed to be more interested in the "steel cyclops" looking at him than in his milk bottle!
 
On the whole, Hedi is doing very well after his operation, except for his increasing sensitivity to the soreness from his operation wounds as well as the discomfort of having the nasal tube attached to him. It is partly because of this that both his hands are put on splints so that he won't grab at the tubes or the dressing over his wounds. We thank GOD for the quick healing of this dear child as he recuperates. 

Click on the play arrow below to watch another video clip entitled "Hedi Wants Camera, Not Milk."

When I arrived at the hospital today Hedi had been in the operating room for almost 2 hours already. His sweet mother was waiting with our friend Robin in the "fish (aquarium) room" near the ICU.

Hedi's mother knew the surgery would last about four hours, so she waited as patiently as possible as we sat together in the hallway for a perfect view of all the patients who return from surgery to the ICU. After about four and one-half hours Dr. Katz came to speak with her to let her know the surgery was finished. He told us the hole between the ventricles of Hedi's heart was now closed, and the surgery was a success. Immediately the color came back to his mother's face, as did the smile, while she thanked God, and thanked the doctor.

Next came the waiting for her son to be wheeled up from surgery and to the ICU. Before too long, we heard the cries of a child in the hall, and Hedi's mother recognized those cries as  belonging to Soz. She had been sleeping but was awakened to go to the OR for her own surgery, and was crying all the way as her mother carried her. The trauma of that caused some tears from her mother as well, and she asked me to accompany her to the OR, which I was allowed to do. Because of this, I did not get to see Hedi rolled into the ICU, but instead went to visit him after seeing Soz safely into surgery and settling her mother for the wait. I found Hedi with his mother sitting beside him in the ICU. Hedi looks very good, and is currently sedated and intubated, which is the normal procedure. After sitting with him for a while,  Hedi's mother came out of the ICU to have something to eat. She came to me later to tell me Hedi was cold, and to ask the nurses to add more blankets. I did speak with the nurses who said Hedi had a small fever so they removed the blanket for a little while and gave him medicine for the fever. The nurse assured me that Hedi was ok.

When I left this evening, Hedi was sleeping in the ICU and his mother was visiting with the other mothers in the ward. She will need to rest tonight so that she can be with him as he starts to wake up tomorrow.

Please join us in thanking God for Hedi's successful surgery today! Continue to pray for him to have a fast and uneventful recovery, and for his mother to have courage and stamina as she sees him through the process. It is our hope that he will have a miraculously quick recuperation, and be able to return to her home and her husband in record time.

This afternoon, while I was on the phone being notified that Hedi and Soz were heading towards Wolfson for their check-up, I saw them getting off the taxi with their mothers. I quickly left the ICU, where I was visiting with Ahmad and his mother, to welcome them.
 
After reporting at the nurses' station, Hedi and Soz were brought to have their X-rays done. Rayan's mother also came along, glad to have some company as she had been the only Iraqi mother staying at the hospital for the last few days.
 
Hedi is very active, so much so that his mother was glad that I could relieve her in carrying him, and then to hold him while he explored his 'new' environment at the X-ray department. Sorry, no video to show on Hedi's antics as I was the one holding him and the mothers did not know how to operate the digital camera.
 
Ever-smiling Hedi has become quite familiar with the camera, and today he took a good hard look into my camera lens, as if to say, "Make sure I look good in the shots!"
 
If the results of today's X-ray and check-up are good, then Hedi and Soz will have their operations tomorrow. Do keep these children and their mothers in prayer, as they have been waiting for a long time for the operations to take place.

We had high hopes that today would be the day Hedi would be released from Wolfson Hospital to the SACH house, but the nurses reported that he would need to stay another night. While his mother was disappointed, she was looking forward to the new opportunity tomorrow would bring. Hedi's wheezing is definitely much better, and his cough is subsiding too. I missed the doctor by just a few minutes today, so did not get the chance to speak with her about whether this improvement can be attributed to the steroid medication along with the breathing treatments Hedi has had.

Please pray for Hedi and his mother as they wait for his cough to be healed. She is forming friendships with the Palestinian mothers in the children's ward with her, but misses the companionship of the other Iraqi mothers. Both Karwan and Rayan with their mothers visited them today when they were at the hospital for their echos. Thankfully we have been able to keep a steady supply of other visitors in to see them too, and happy Hedi enjoys the company very much.

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