Sarah's Heart Surgery
Wednesday,
April 30, 2008
Adorable Sarah Flies Home to Iraq
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Their flight to
Iraq was delayed until 5:30. I didn't want to leave her, and
especially the later it got, I thought the flight would be cancelled
and I would have to come back and get them.
But little Sarah
made it all worthwhile. She entertained us and all the other
waiting passengers and made about 50 new uncles and aunts. I
bought her a Barbie doctor kit and she played with that for hours,
checking the other passengers' hearts with her stethoscope and giving
them pretend shots.
She was really adorable!
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 Sunday,
April 6, 2008
Fluid in Lungs
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Four
days after Sarah was released from the
hospital, I found her happy and seemingly healthy at the Save a
Child’s Heart
house in Azur. I took a picture of her with
her buddy Nahro.
The day after my visit, Sarah
was back in the ICU due to fluid in her
lungs and around her heart. Today
she
was once again released from the hospital and returned to the Save A
Child's Heart house.
I
have noticed a drastic change in both Sarah
and her mother following the operation.
Before the operation, Sarah was always quick to jump in my
arms, but
never spoke. Now she
is talking all the
time. Her mother is also full of smiles.
Please
continue to pray for Sarah's recovery.Click
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message to Sarah and her mother.
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 Friday,
March 28, 2008
Sarah's Doing Great
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Sarah is doing great, but it
was hard for me to take a photo of her at first, because she refused to
smile.
In
the end, I was able to take a picture of her with her mother. You can
feel the peace on her mother's face now that she sees how well Sarah is
doing.
Sarah also posed with her friend Hussein,
while they were preparing to leave the hospital. They will continue
their recovery at the Save A Child's Heart house near the hospital,
until they have a clean bill of health and can return home to Iraq.
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Sunday,
March 23, 2008
The Peace of Sarah's Mother
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Sarah’s
mother’s brow has been
furrowed with worry over the last few weeks as she eagerly anticipated
her daughter’s turn for surgery. To
everyone’s
surprise that surgery took place this morning.
When
I
encountered her mother today, that furrowed brow had been wiped clean
and replaced by a warm peace. From this I could tell that
Sarah’s surgery had gone well. Entering the ICU at
Wolfson
Medical Center we found Sarah stretched out on the table in a
chemically induced coma. This is a standard procedure for
patients post-surgery.
Surgeon
Lior
Sasson said the tetralogy of fallot repair went very well. If
everything goes well her tubes will be removed tomorrow. Click
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message to Sarah and her mother.
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Monday,
March 10, 2008
Dental Work Needed Before
Surgery
Filed
by
 Sarah moved to the Shevet Achim house
last
Wednesday and is still awaiting her first heart surgery. She is in need
of dental care and she can't be operated on until that is taken care
of. Cavities or infected gums are a great risk to a heart condition,
because they introduce germs and bacteria into the blood system. These
germs and bacteria can develop an infection on the heart lining, which
is very dangerous. When Sarah's dental treatment is complete,
she
will be ready for surgery.
Last
Saturday the four children staying in Jerusalem (Sarah, Juliana, Mustafa and
Shinyar)
and their mothers and I all enjoyed going to a church service at an
international congregation. We also visited the Old City as a
group. Sarah's mother has actually been to the Old City twice and
really has benefited from it! By the end of her two trips she was
decked out in an entirely new outfit.
I could tell
that she
really appreciated the opportunity to buy herself something
nice. For the most part Sarah's mom has been very quiet and
withdrawn, in fact the first day she was here she cried because she
missed her family so much. She also was sad because she wanted
to
stay with the same group of women that she arrived with, but she had to
leave them when she came to the Shevet house. Mustafa's mother
comforted her by telling her that she had already seen four different
sets of mothers come and go with successful surgeries during her
five-month wait! Please keep Sarah's mother in your prayers
as
she goes through this time of missing family and being without the
comfort of familiar faces.
Another outing that
lifted
everyone's spirits was the beach--we took Sarah and her mother to the
Mediterranean Sea yesterday. Sarah had fun playing in the sand with her
new friend Juliana (see the picture at the top).
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Wednesday
February 20, 2008
Sarah's First Tests in
Hospital in Israel
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Four-year-old
Sarah from the north of
Iraq reached
Israel last night, and reported first thing this morning with her
mother to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon for her first tests in
preparation for surgery.
Sarah seemed to be reserving judgment today, but was generally tolerant
of the medical staff who were poking, prodding, and pricking her. Click
the play arrow below to
have a look:
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