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Rezhin Leaves Israel
December 3, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
This was Rezhin and Tarza’s last week in Israel. These two girls are just precious and full of life. Every day they’ve talked about when they would get to go home to see their families. You could see the anticipation growing in them each day and never would have imagined that these two girls running around playing, recently had had heart surgery. It’s exciting to think who they will become as they return home with new hearts.
They are deeply appreciative for the nurturing care they’ve received from the staff here and truly love the women here. They made thank you notes in their 
Sorani dialect for some of the staff thanking them and making sure they knew they would be missed. Last night they even invited Donna to share one last meal with them before preparing to leave.
Everyone woke up this morning freshly cleaned and with their best clothes on. Packing must have begun last night, leaving things only to be tidied up today. After waiting several hours, we all loaded up in the van mid-afternoon to start the journey home. It was a beautiful day, providing for a nice drive and great views of the country. Once at passport control things went fairly smoothly and they were able to make a couple of quick purchases from the Duty Free Shop before going outside to wait for the bus.
Sadly they faced a long wait on the other side of the border crossing, making what was already a long day that much longer. After a quick nap, they’ll awake early in the morning to head to the airport to return home.
What a privilege it has been to meet these two beautiful girls. How grateful we are that they have many more years of health and life ahead of them!
Rezhin Released to Return Home
November 30, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Dr. Tamir did a final echocardiogram for Rezhin and gave her the green light to return home. She and her mother were delighted with the news, and are counting the days together with her companion-in-surgery Tarza, below left.
There was still a bit of a ‘dark cloud’ on Rezhin’s countenance however as she was due to head to the dental surgeon this evening. The antibiotic prescribed for Rezhin by the dentist last week did fast work at knocking out the pain from her toothache caused by a bad cavity. This improvement gave her mother pause for considering whether they might wait until their return to Iraq to have the tooth treated, and she began indicating this choice to me yesterday. But before contacting the dentist to cancel the appointment, we wanted to be sure that her mother understood that the treatment here could save the tooth, and we were not certain if a dentist in their city could do so. After getting this news translated for Um Rezhin, her decision remained the same, and since the choice is hers to make, I contacted the dental surgeon to let him know we wouldn’t be coming. Only then did Rezhin become full of smiles, and she hasn’t stopped smiling through the evening.
Rezhin is a fearful girl, and reacts very strongly to even the thought of something being painful happening to her. Yet we’ve made sure her mother understands the importance of having the tooth treated and the implications on her heart if she doesn’t.
Excellent Echo Report, Now To The Dentist…
November 24, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Rezhin began having a toothache last night, so I was concerned that the doctors know about it since tooth decay can affect the heart. In conversation while waiting for Rezhin to have her ECG, one of the volunteers mentioned that she had been a dentist before retiring, so I asked her to look at Rezhin’s tooth. It was clear there is a bad cavity there, but Rezhin misunderstood what was happening, and thought this volunteer was about to pull her tooth when she subsequently asked her to get on the examining table for the ECG. She began to cry and did not want to get on the table until we could convince her that this had only to do with her heart and not her tooth. We need to find a good dentist who can take Rezhin quickly and get this tooth out of the way so the new one can come in, and the possibility for infection will be gone. We are hoping to have someone donate their services for this need.
Rezhin had an excellent report from her echocardiogram and will need to come back in one week for her final echo. That means after just one more week she could be on her way home. This news brought a smile to both Rezhin’s and her mother’s faces.
Echo Shows No Water In Lungs
November 17, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We made our way to the hospital this morning for Tarza and Rezhin’s follow-up echos. After waiting nearly an hour, each girl was taken in for her echo. Afterwards, the report was that they are doing really well. Neither of the girls has any sign of water in her lungs, nor are they on any medications, only vitamins.
After they left the echo they met up with Ali and his father as they were walking outside. Both mothers and daughters sat outside with Ali and rejoiced with Ali’s father. Both Tarza and Rezhin will have another echo next Monday.
Rezhin Released from the Hospital
November 16, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
I went to the hospital yesterday to bring Tarza and Rezhin back to the house. They were ready to leave when I got there. The trip went well, the taxi driver was very pleasant, he couldn’t speak english and he called another taxi driver over to translate to him what I was saying, they also told us to have a good journey. The girls are doing great and were glad to get back to the house. Lawk and his mom were also glad to see them. The hospital will let us know when they go for their echocardiogram.
Recovering In Children’s Ward
November 12, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Today, I found both Tarza and Rezhin out of the ICU and in the ward. While I was visiting this afternoon the girls were munching on Doritos and peanut M&M’s. It seems as if they are on their way to a full recovery.
Doing Wonderfully After Surgery
November 10, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Rezhin had her surgery today around 12:30 p.m. She had an ASD and her surgery lasted until around 3:00. Her mother was anxious, as was expected. It was good that Tarza’s mother was there too, and Ali’s father so he could translate for them. This takes away a lot of the tension during the long wait. When Rezhin came out of surgery, her mom had to wait awhile before she could go see her.
I asked the surgeon how Tarza had done and he said, “Excellent. She’s doing wonderfully.” To me, that’s the best report you can get.
Surgery Scheduled For Tomorrow
November 9, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We received a surprise telephone call this evening from the hospital telling us to bring Rezhin and Tarza, and that they would have surgery tomorrow.
The mothers speak only Kurdish but Ali’s father is there to help with the translation. His calmness and attention helps them to have a peace they might not have if he weren’t there.
ASD Repair Expected To Be Simple
November 6, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We took Rezhin to the hospital to get her echo this morning along with Tarza. They both had to get their blood work done and an x-ray first. Rezhin was naturally scared and it upset her when they took her blood, but with the help of Ali’s father translating to her and her mother, it didn’t take long before she was comforted and then she had to go for her DPT shot. After this we took to girls to get their echo. After hers was done, the doctor had to leave to do an echo for an emergency surgery, so we had to wait for Tarza to get her echo.
We went down for lunch and returned for the echo and still had a long wait. During the wait everyone was getting restless so we decided to pass the time away by setting up a plastic bowling game they had there. Soon Rezhin and the rest of us joined in. Communication had been a little difficult until this and all of a sudden there seemed to be a break in the barrier. We were all having fun.
The report we got back was good. They found out Rezhin has ASD which should be simple and they hope to do her surgery soon.
Rezhin Arrives In Israel
November 4, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Late this afternoon we welcomed Rezhin and her mother, along with Tarza and her mother. We’d hoped to receive them Sunday evening but needed to wait until today. Once here at the house, we were all thankful to have Sara’s father to help us communicate with one another. Neither of these mothers speak Arabic or English, so we’re really hoping that translation will be available for all of us during their stay here.
Tonight at the house the three little girls (Rezhin, Tarza and Sara) are all feeling shy, and therefore have not yet begun to play together. Since Rezhin will not have her first echo until Thursday, we’re hoping that they will enjoy playing with one another in the morning after a good night’s sleep.
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