| | Vareen's Heart Surgery
Saturday,
June 27, 2009 Going to See Her Father
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by
After
an emotional departure yesterday from Jerusalem, this morning in
Jordan Vareen's mother seemed in a better frame of mind than I
expected, and we all had a good breakfast together. Varen serenaded us
with songs on the way to the airport, keeping rhythm on her water
bottle, and her mother said with a smile she was singing songs about
seeing her father in Iraq.
We arrived at the airport just in time for
boarding the plane, so we had only a short goodbye, which was much
better for everyone's emotions.
We waited until we knew they'd cleared
customs inside without any problems, and bid our final farewells with
waves and blown kisses through the airport windows.
Varen is
the first child I've been involved with who came expecting a
successful surgery which was not able to go forward. The Save A Child's Heart doctors
are carefully honest with every family about the treatment, and unusual
cases like this one are hard on everyone who has come together to help
save these children's lives. Even though we didn't see
the hoped for outcome, we'll never give up on what God can do
whether we see the miracles we pray for or not. With this in mind, we
sent Varen and her mother on their way home knowing they are loved, and
that we'll all be praying for them as we trust God with
Varen's life.
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message to Vareen and her mother.
Thursday,
June 25, 2009 Sorrow Shared Lightens the
Load
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 It was our
hope and prayer that when we arrived at the hospital to pick up Vareen
(above rear) and Deya this afternoon, we'd find that Um (mother of)
Vareen would be more settled than when we left yesterday after she'd
just received the news of Vareen's inoperability. She did seem to be
ok; she was able to keep her emotions in check as we returned to
Jerusalem. After allowing time for the mothers and daughters to settle
themselves in their room again, I went to sit with the families. One of
the first conversations was begun by Um Akram asking me if Vareen
really could not have heart surgery. Um Vareen herself stood nearby
looking intently as if waiting for a different answer than the one I
gave - the one the doctors reported yesterday. She began to
cry again as it registered again in her heart. The other mothers, all
sitting with their children in their laps, reflected somberly for a
moment, but then with compassion in their hearts tried to
speak words of comfort to her. She needed to express some of the grief
in her heart, but all of us were concerned over so many tears shed in
front of Vareen herself, who stood nearby patting her mother to comfort
her. Akram, like a dear big brother, wisely and
compassionately took Vareen by the hand and walked her out to the
courtyard for diversion. The rest of us sat together for a little while
with occasional words of encouragement spoken by one or another to Um
Vareen. It was a difficult afternoon, but surely sorrow shared lightens
the load. Please continue in prayer for God's precious comfort and His
grace to abound in this situation and reach into the hearts of Vareen
and her mother in a sustaining way. We expect to return to
Jordan in the next several days so Vareen and her sweet mother can get
back to their family in Iraq.
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Wednesday,
June 24, 2009 An Unexpected Result for
Vareen
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This
morning Vareen underwent the catheterization process to determine
whether or not surgery for her heart would be possible. When I arrived
early this morning, she was full of her usual energy and
didn’t stop singing to herself while waiting to undergo the
procedure. This brought a smile to her mother’s face who was
clearly very worried. Take a look at the video clip of one of her many
songs (you can see Mom too in the mirror)!
Vareen
has a good relationship with the Israeli doctors, and when the time
came for her
catheterization she walked hand in hand with one into the lab.
The
procedure
turned out to be a long process and revealed many complications. During
her recovery, Vareen enjoyed blowing bubbles in her hospital bed
although she was obviously very tired and not feeling quite like her
normal self. Her mother was under a lot of strain as she waited for the
translator to arrive in order to communicate the results to her.
Vareen
will return
to Jerusalem tomorrow and stay at the Shevet Achim house for a while in
order to give her mother time to react to the news of Vareen being
medically inoperable and ask any questions she may have. We value the
opportunity to have this time to be with this special girl and enjoy
her many talents. She is still so friendly and full of so much
character! Please continue to pray for Vareen and her mother that they
may be drawn to the One who is the source of all hope during this
difficult time.
Donna adds:
The
news about Vareen was a shock to all of us, and Dr. Tamir was
expressing his sorrow and emotion as he spoke with me about it by
phone. We called Mazal, our faithful Kurdish friend who translates from
Hebrew to Kurdish when we have
situations needing specific medical detail like this one. As Dr. Tamir
explained to Mazal and she explained to Vareen's mother, we could see
that she didn't fully grasp what she was being told. I sat with her for
a few minutes after the explanation, and left the room to visit Deya. I
saw Vareen's mother go out of the room with Mazal again, into the
nurse's
station where Dr. Tamir was preparing to leave for the day. This time
she asked questions about what she'd already heard, and it began to
sink in with clear understanding that her daughter's life could not be
saved by surgery. As she turned back to the room her eyes were flooded
with tears, and she approached Deya's mother, who was in the room next
door, and shook her head "no." She briefly explained that surgery was
not possible for Vareen, and turned to go to her daughter. She sat
beside Vareen and wept, and I sat beside her and held her and prayed.
When I knew it was enough time, I felt it best to let her have her own
space and time to grieve over the situation as Vareen slept. We left
her with kisses and prayers. Please join us in asking for God's grace
to reach deeply into this difficult situation for this
family.
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Tuesday,
June 23, 2009 Vareen Excited
as Admitted to Hospital
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Today was the start of
Vareen’s catheterization process, an
examination which will reveal the anatomy of her heart in preparation
for surgery. Vareen endured the catheterization prep work at Wolfson
Hospital. She was a perfect soldier, braving her way through a blood
pressure reading and a few painful pricks.
Although scared at
first, it only took a few moments for Vareen to regain her cheerful
demeanor. Her smile only widened when she was led to her clean room and
handed a hospital gown that matched the hospital sheets! In her
excitement, she did not waste a single moment, but quickly crawled into
her new wear.
Things are looking well
and both Vareen and her mother were comfortably settling in as we left
them at the hospital today. Please remember to keep her in your prayers
as she makes her way through the catheterization tomorrow.
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 Wednesday,
June 17, 2009 Vareen's First Day In
Israeli Hospital
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Vareen is a
lively and friendly little girl from Iraq. She is full of
character! After a long journey from Jordan, Vareen and her mother
arrived in Jerusalem on Monday night. The crossing was
straightforward. Vareen made many friends with the Israeli border
patrol who spent time blowing up balloons to entertain her. She was
very tired upon arriving in Israel but both she and her mom were
relieved to be reunited with the other families.
Today was spent at Wolfson Medical Center going through the numerous
tests required upon arrival: blood work, EKG, echocardiograms and
X-ray. Vareen was cheerful entering the hospital and enjoyed the many
toys in the playroom. We had fun drawing, playing the piano, and
painting.
Once the tests
were underway, Vareen grew more apprehensive and tearful
as many of the procedures were new to her. The blood work in particular
was very upsetting. But she soon returned to her playful self
afterwards, finding a plastic glove to blo w into, creating her own
balloon. Then while waiting to get her echocardiogram done, Vareen made
use of the time by playing in the little house and serving us "food"
from the window.
The echocardiogram was a
long procedure for such a
lively girl to remain still through, but she entertained herself and
made the doctors smile by repeating their Hebrew back to them as they
spoke.
By the time everything was done, Vareen was worn out from her long day,
but she had managed to bring joy to many people with her silly antics,
despite her tiredness! Vareen’s mother was also obviously
very tired from the past few days but her support and love for her
daughter stood out today. After getting a good night’s rest
tonight, Vareen and her mother will go back to the hospital tomorrow
for Vareen to get have a PPD test for tuberculosis. Click to
send an e-mail
message to Vareen and her mother.
Notify
me when Vareen's page is updated
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 Monday, June 8, 2009
Vareen Invited To Israel
For
Surgery
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by
Vareen is a
sweet five-year-old girl from Iraq. Her heart condition was
first
diagnosed when she was six months old. At our cardiac screening last
week in Jordan, Dr. Tamir's examination showed that "the clock
is ticking" for Vareen.
She has
a large PDA (patent ductus arteriosus). This means that there is an
abnormal
circulation of blood between two of the major arteries near the heart.
Before birth, the two major arteries—the aorta and the
pulmonary artery—are normally connected by a blood vessel
called the ductus arteriosus, which is an essential part of the fetal
circulation. After birth, the vessel is supposed to close within a few
days as part of the normal changes occurring in the baby's circulation.
In some babies like Vareen, however, the ductus arteriosus remains open
(patent). This opening allows blood to flow directly from the aorta
into the pulmonary artery, putting a strain on Vareen's heart and
increasing the blood pressure in the lung arteries (pulmonary
hypertension). Varen also has an enlarged left ventricle.
The good news is that Vareen is operable, and she has been invited to
come to Israel for heart catheterization and surgery. Because she is
considered an urgent
case, Dr. Tamir didn't want to risk sending her home to Iraq and having
her return later. So Vareen is now waiting with her mother at
Dirk and Manuela's home in Jordan, along with four other children and
their escorts.
Dirk
writes:
Today is
the third day back home after the screening, which we remember as a
joyful and at the same time exhausting experience. Five Iraqi families
came
to our home in Jordan with us to await their visas to Israel, and like
the rest of us passed almost the entire first
day at the guest flat sleeping. Of course everything is so new to them,
and they were very quiet and did not want to disturb us or
use our kitchen although we offered it to them many times. They
prepared their own food downstairs, and only when they ran out of water
or other necessities did they leave their quarters.
Communication
with the families here was quite difficult at first, since they hardly
speak any Arabic or English, with the exception of one
grandmother. This older lady, who herself has raised 11
children, is active and has helped us with translation a lot. A Kurdish
translator named Komar arrived here on Friday. It really helps a lot to
have him build a bridge to their culture, even though
two of the
families speak a different dialect than Komar and the other three
families.
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