Shinyar's Heart Surgery
Sunday,
March 23, 2008 Shinyar Leaves IsraelFiled
by I was amazed to have the opportunity to see Juliana and Arya
again when I returned from America last Wednesday night. Exchanging
hugs and seeing the joy on the mothers' faces and the health of the
children after their surgeries was a delight! I had escorted Rebar
and his shy mom to Jerusalem the night before I left Israel so we
didn't have a chance to get to know each other, but we could rejoice
together nonetheless over what had happened in the time I'd been away.
I
had not seen Shinyar since the screening in October apart from checking
the blogs, so it was a thrill to see her spunky personality too as the
children all played together in their final stay in Jerusalem before
they left for home.
I would have loved to go with them
to the border, but because we had so many able to return at once, along
with all their luggage, we bade each other farewell here at the house
after praying for each one in the courtyard.
It
is my prayer that their visit here will have changed every heart in a
way that will cause them to know the depth of God's love for them, and
everything He has done to prove it.
I give Him thanks for letting me make friends with these mothers and children in His divine plan.  Notify
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Thursday,
February 28, 2008 FriendsFiled
by This
morning my daughter AbbyRose accompanied Shinyar to Wolfson Medical
Center for her follow up echocardiogram. Abby was curious as to what an
echo was and was allowed to watch as Dr. Alona administered the test.
The news has not changed for Shinyar, she continues to have excess
fluid in and around the heart. The pericardium surrounding the heart is
there to protect it, but too much fluid can push in on the heart and
damage it, something the doctors feel can be avoided with a little more
time and care. They have started her on a medication called prednisone
in hopes that it will aid in the reduction of this excess fluid. She is
once again scheduled for a follow up echo on Sunday morning to monitor
the progress.
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Wednesday,
February 27, 2008 Today's Echo Not Yet Her
LastFiled
by Today this
little Kurdish girl who is so full of life made a trip from the Shevet
house, where she's been staying in Jerusalem, down to Wolfson hospital
for a post-surgical echocardiogram to see how her heart is doing. As
mom is anxious to get back to Kurdistan, the news that Shinyar's echo
will not be her last is not what she or anybody else expected.
Dr. Katz
informed us that Shinyar has some fluid that should not be where it is.
He also stated that it is not at all unusual or uncommon for this to
happen after the type of heart surgery that she had undergone. Another
echo is scheduled for Thursday to monitor the situation. If the fluid
does not clear up on its own the doctors will try to solve the problem
with some medication.
On another note take a close
look at Shinyar's face as she stands at the water's edge of the
Mediterranean Sea for the first time--probably the first time she's
ever seen any ocean.
She is a
girl who chooses to live her best life
now. Please keep her in your prayers and let's trust God together for
her complete recovery before she heads back to Kurdistan.
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Sunday,
February 10, 2008 Out
of Hospital--Just 5 Days After SurgeryFiled
by Five
days after her surgery, Shinyar is well enough to leave the hospital
and joins Mustafa,
Arya, and
Juliana
at the children's house in Azur. Because
of a planned visit, there was a call placed to the hospital earlier in
the day that alerted us to the fact that this little girl was packing
her bags and was on her way to see her friends. Blessed by
this news we headed for their destination.
For
several months now, women from a local church have volunteered to come
along on visits to the families both at Wolfson Hospital and at the
house where the families reside while waiting for their turn at
surgery. Today was a special day for all. New toys
donated to the church from an organization in the United States were
taken by
taxi to the moms and kids, along with new shoes and lots of
hugs.
We are very happy to have taken part in
making these
Iraqi families' lives a little brighter. You can see the
delight in their faces.
We thank everyone who has had
their heart touched for this work, and responded by giving freely of
their abundance. Click
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Wednesday,
February 6, 2008 Smiling and Showing Her
Incision Filed
by My
family
traveled to Wolfson Medical Center today in expectation of seeing
Shinyar awake following the 24 hours of medically-induced sleep from
her open-heart surgery yesterday. My husband Hank was the
first
to enter
the ICU and returned a few minutes later, reporting that she was awake
and was able to speak briefly with her father on the phone; but she had
just gotten quite sick, most likely from the anesthesia. So
we decided to allow the staff time to clean Shinyar up and went to the
children's ward, visiting Mustafa who was recovering from his heart
cath. Mustafa's mom agreed to leave while I sat with him, so
she
could go to the ICU where staff there needed her assistance in
translation between the charge nurse and Shinyar's mom.
It seems that Mom wants to help all she can, and has been emptying
Shinyar's urinal. It was imperative that she understood that
the nurses needed it to measure the quantity of waste and make sure
Shinyar's body is working as it should. Pray that Shinyar's mom takes
some time for herself. The nurses have been trying to
encourage her that in order to help Shinyar become healthy, she herself
must be rested and strong.
Returning
to the ICU and being buzzed in the entrance, I looked across to where
Shinyar was laying and walking towards her, was rewarded with a big
smile!
Though the
three of us could not communicate with words, I stood by her bed,
softly touching her hair and cheek, praying for a complete and quick
healing for this beautiful little girl.
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Tuesday,
February 5, 2008 Fighting to Open Her Eyes
After Surgery Filed
by This
morning Shinyar underwent open heart surgery while Mom waited to hear
the outcome. The good news came about 1:00 pm that everything went very
well and that her daughter was doing just fine. Mom was in the ICU when
Shinyar returned from the recovery room and the sight was more than she
could bear. She left the room and started to cry as one of the other
Kurdish mothers came to her side and began to speak in her native
tongue, I watched a calm come over her as they talked. I slipped back
into the ICU to ask Dr. Houry if Shinyar was indeed ok, and he
confirmed everything went very well.
As I stood and
prayed for Shinyar she opened her eyes and a tending nurse upped the
sleep medication in her IV.
Please pray
for a good night sleep for both Shinyar and her mother.
Brenda
Giangregorio was also at the hospital today and adds this report:
The
procedure to correct her heart defect went so well, the medical staff
will remove her intubation tubes first thing tomorrow morning as the
hospital anticipates a speedy recovery.
Shinyar's
zeal for
life itself came to the surface as she opened her eyes for the first
time, looked at her adoring mother and then turned her head towards me
and gave us a great big smile. What a precious moment for her
mom, as she wiped away her tears, expressing her gratitude and relief
to everyone within listening distance.
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Monday,
February 4, 2008 Making the Trip Together Filed
by Shinyar's day has come to go to Wolfson
Medical Center, because her operation is scheduled for tomorrow.
Shinyar and my daughter AbbyRose have become friends, so the two girls
decided to make this trip together.
Upon arrival at the hospital the two
girls preceded us and jumped up on the bed together.
With a few small matters out of the way
(temperature, weight, height, and blood pressure), Shinyar was ready
for the hospital clothes and an IV.
As Abby and I were leaving her room,
for the first time since Shinyar's arrival this high-voltage little
Kurdish girl did not seem like she was loving it. I can only imagine
what is going through her mind as she knows her surgery is very near.
Please keep Shinyar and her mom in your
prayers.
Brenda
Giangregorio spent the night before with Shinyar and her mother in
Jerusalem and adds this report:
Spending
the
night before her surgery at the Shevet House in Jerusalem, we laughed
and played word games well into the evening. It became apparent that
this little girl has an obvious gift from God, a unique ability to
cross language barriers with an Einstein-like intellect. I told Um
Shinyar I look forward to the coming days when this little 8 yr old can
give me a crash course in her Kurdish/English repertoire.
Momma says,
Boukara (tomorrow). We hugged the hugs of a mother, one to
another and
parted for the evening as we found a bed for Mom for the night and said
good-bye. Click
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Monday,
January 28, 2008 Speaking Her LanguageFiled
by Following a trip to Wolfson Medical
Center today for a tuberculosis test, Shinyar and her mother spent some
time with our family learning what Play Dough was all  about. It looked like mom
enjoyed it as much as Shinyar!
Because we do not speak
Kurdish, we could not communicate too well, but the language
of love and hospitality can speak volumes.
A
small
group of ladies from a church in Maryland have shown their love by
quilting blankets for the children. Each quilt is
different in style, but each one has a small red heart quilted on
it. It didn't take long for Shinyar to choose her blanket -
a pink one with ballerinas.
Our time together too quickly drew to a
close, and we drove them back to the Shevet house to rest after a long
day.
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 Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Shinyar Arrives in Israel
Filed
by
When
I first encountered Shinyar's mother, she began filming the Jordan
terminal with her camcorder. The sights, sounds, and security
issues of new countries are always a fascination to visiting
families. I warned her that filming at border crossings was
illegal and she quickly put the camera away.
Shinyar's
reaction to everything was a smile. When we
arrived on the Israel side and were met by the serious faces of
Israel's security team, Shinyar beamed at them as she rode the luggage
trolley right up to the baggage x-ray machine. The metal
detector proved to be a problem for Shinyar's mother. She
could not remove some gold bracelets that she obviously had been
wearing for some years. So she was checked from head to toe
another way.
When we were finally free of
the Israeli border we began to make our way up to
Jerusalem. It was there that Shinyar's mother timidly asked me
if it was legal to film anywhere in Israel. With a chuckle I said, "Of
course."
Within minutes I looked back and
Shinyar had fallen asleep just after I took the short video you see
here. (To watch, click the arrow below.)
Please begin to
pray for Shinyar's family as they explore their new world and new
opportunity for the life of Shinyar.
Dirk, our staff member in
Jordan, writes the following about the time he and his family hosted
Shinyar:
Shinyar is a lovely little girl, full
of
life, friendliness and laughter. We really enjoyed having her and her
mom here with us for three weeks. She can write well in her Kurdish
language and loves to do creative things. She is really girly
and loves
to wear pink. Her birthday was on the 18th of January, and we had a
small party for her with cake and presents.
Her mother showed us videos from a
family wedding at home, with Kurdish dancing and music, which was very
interesting.
The extra waiting time here
in Jordan was especially assigned by God and was a blessing to all of
us.
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