Updates from Maddison:

I haven't had a chance to write in the blog for a while, Maddison came out here about 2 weeks ago and has been doing updates herself. Here are her updates, as good as anything I could write about the past two very intense weeks, and provide an interesting (flattering) third person perspective on me. What could be better?!

Week 1:

Shalom!
I thought I would give you all an update on everything I have accomplished in the week that I have been here! I have barely stopped moving since I have been off the plane, and by the grace of God I have experienced more in this one short week than most will ever get to in a lifetime!

My reunion with Justin was more amazing than expected, although I was nervous (we have not seen each other in 6 months!) I was greeted with many hugs, roses, strawberry belts on my pillow (my favorite), a walk around the music and lights of downtown Jerusalem, and a nice dinner at a beautiful restaurant of humus and pita! Little did I know this was the most time I would be spending with Justin the entire week.

The following day we started with our morning meeting which includes prayer, worship, a bible study, and the daily assignments and updates. The Shevet House is in Jerusalem only a few minutes walk from the Old City and an hour from the hospital in Tel Aviv. The “house” includes sleeping areas, offices, a kitchen, and a whole separate living space for the Iraqi mothers and children staying with us. 9 year old Mohammed recently out of surgery was asking for Justin and he spent the day visiting at the hospital, I literally spent the day recovering from jet lag and worshiping and praying. Every night the staff eats a meal together.

The first half of the week a missions group from Texas came and helped clean, and do work projects for us, so we were able to build relationships with them, and they were a huge encouragement to me. We were able to do crafts with the two Iraqi moms and kids staying here at the house, and it was good because we all were able to get to know each other a bit better.

Tuesday is the craziest day of all here. In addition to the Iraqi children living at Shevet and receiving surgeries, every Tuesday we provide transportation and service to certain sponsored children who are allowed in for certain tests and check ups for the day from Gaza. This requires multiple trips to the border and hospital and back (3 total) This week was especially crazy because in addition to the Gaza run there were 3 major surgeries that happened to fall on the week I arrived (they are usually more spread out)

Thursday was personally the most incredible day for me, in the morning I decided to go and visit the hospital and see the kids that I already know well. There are children in the ICU, intermediate ICU, and the ward, and I have been able to find my way around the hospital fairly quickly considering everything is in Hebrew! It was supposed to be a short visit when we suddenly found out that one of our Gaza patients baby Hala was going in for surgery. Alex (one of my supervisors) had to leave and take the van, and he asked if Mary (another brand new and older woman volunteer) and I would “cover it” and take a bus home. “Covering it” requires us to meet and wait with the mom, escort her to the doors of the OR and pray with her if she allows, take pictures before and after surgery, and find out as much information as we can for the blogs written later (these can be found at Shevet.org). I was excited for the challenge, and Alex quickly introduced us to the mother who we could not communicate with at all, and we walked with her as she watched her 3 month old be wheeled into surgery.

As we were walking to the waiting room, a doctor passed us in the hallway, and I was able to ask him a little bit more about the surgery she was about to undergo. He explained that this is the first of a series of 3 surgeries she will need in total, and that they were waiting to see if she made it through this one before they talk about the future. Hala is only 3 months old, and has only one valve where she is supposed to have two, and this was causing a lot of excess blood being pumped into the lungs, and not enough in to the rest of her body. The Doctor explained to me that this surgery was to tie something around the valve in order to decrease the flow of blood into the lungs, and that the risk came in deciding how tight it needs to be.

Hearing we were apart of Shevet Achim, the Doctor invited me to come and watch the operation, and I was able to watch the entire thing very closely (less than a foot away!), even getting commentary in English, from multiple Doctors, about what was happening throughout! I was asked a lot of questions myself, and was able to explain a little more about Shevet Achim, and what we do. A specialist was called in to determine exactly how tightly it should be tied, and I was able to pray for Hala throughout the surgery, while she was less than a foot away! Praise be to God, the surgery was an overall success, and she will have two more to come.

Another huge blessing was as they were still stitching her up, I was able to quickly leave, and report the good news to the anxious mother and Mary who were waiting in ICU. Soon after Hala was wheeled out, and her mother was by her side again. I was also invited by the doctor to come in for the next surgery this coming Sunday. Once I got back to the house, I was told by all the staff members that being invited in rarely happens, and that the relationship between Shevet Achim and the Doctors has been a long process this was a big step!

Today (Friday) I was final able to breathe a bit, we rested, and went out to dinner and Shabbat began, which means I will be able to rest more tomorrow as well. After dinner Justin and I were finally able to spend some more time together and walk down to the Old city, through the Damascus gate and to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) it was incredible, and my heart was literally filled with joy. It was an awesome end to a crazy week!

Please continue to pray for Justin and I and the children here undergoing surgeries, but also be encouraged God is doing amazing things here! Also continue to pray for my sister, the latest news is that we are getting a better MRI image, and are simply waiting for insurance logistics to work out, but she is doing well. Thank you all again for your support, and feel free to pass this along to whomever you please!

In Him,
Maddie

Week 2

Shalom! Wow another crazy week! (Pace yourself it is a long one)
Shabbat was restful, and Justin and I went to the missionary church that most of the Shevet staff goes too. We rested a lot after that, and walked more around the old city that night, climbing to the roof tops of the houses in the city where we could see the Dome of the rock. It was a restful Saturday, and I bet it was because God knew we needed it with the week ahead.

Sunday started off bright and early at 6am with watching 9 year old Mohammed’s 5 and a half hour heart surgery. Because of my familiarity with the OR layout and staff, I was able to bring in another Shevet volunteer Emily who also wanted to watch. She is also from Azusa Pacific University, and has been here for 2 months already. Before the surgery I was able to connect with my new friend Alina, the anesthesiologist I met last time, and we talked more. We made friends with one of the nurses who was going to be operating the bypass machine and she was able to keep us company and explain what was going on when Dr. Sasson couldn’t. We were able to talk with her about Shevet and exchanged information for her and Alina to come to Jerusalem to visit!

The doctor was excited to show Emily and I the pictures of Mohammed's heart before and after his previous surgery. We were able to see how small the aorta was, and what an amazing job they did in enlarging it. The results of the first surgery were so amazing and unexpected, and his recovery went so well, they decided to go ahead and do this second surgery and repair the hole in his heart.

The hole was in between the two ventricles and needed to be repaired with
Gore-tex so that blood could not mix and flow between them. During the surgery Mohammed was put on bypass, which is basically an artificial heart and lung machine that pumps oxygenated blood to the body during the surgery, completely bypassing Mohammed's heart so that they are able to stop it and work more effectively on it. Once the doctors were able to open the ventricle and get a better look, they saw that the hole was a lot bigger than they had originally thought. However, this didn't seem to slow them down, or worry them in the slightest and things continued right along.

We were able to walk with Abu Mohammed as they wheeled his son into the ICU, and we were all there as Mohammed slowly started to wake up. The surgery went extremely well, and this little boy who was turned away from multiple hospitals earlier in the year, should recover and be completely fine soon!

However there was another problem, during the operation, Emily (see picture below) kept complaining of severe back pain, and eventually had to leave the operating room. Our nurse friend and I continued to leave and check on her, and the pain got so sever we decided it would be best for her to be checked out in the Emergency room. After being checked out the doctors tested her kidneys and thought she had a kidney infection and was admitted to stay the night. More tests were going to take place later on. But even with strong medication Emily’s pain remained very high.

The next day, I was able to go to the hospital and sit with Emily and visit the other patients as well. All updates on individual patients and their entire story can be found at Shevet.org under “Children now in Israel” Emily was fine and we talked for hours until her meds wore off and then I could see how sever her pain was. She had thrown up, and had spiked a fever. The doctors had her on antibiotics, but continued to test other things. At the end of that day the doctors decided she had pleural pneumonia.

However during the night we received word that Emily had deteriorated, and had major breathing problems, they were now testing her for Swine flu amongst other things, and moving her to ICU, anyone who wanted to see her had to wear a mask.

Tuesday was another crazy Gaza day, we brought 5 kids and a parent each to the hospital and got them all checked in and settled. Visiting the other kids we had in the hospital, checking up and Emily, and then returning the 5 kids back to Gaza. The border was closed for a prisoner transfer, and Justin and I waited wit the moms at the border for 2 hours, we had some fun with the little ones though. (See pictures below)

One of the Iraqi children that is very close to my heart is Sidra. She was staying out the house the first night I got to Jerusalem, and had her surgery the first week I was here, she is ALLLways smiling, and Justin and I love her tons, at this point she seemed to be recovery great. (See pictures below)

Thursday was a long but happy day. Most of our Iraqi patients were discharged and able to come home to Jerusalem with us. Including Mohammed! Sidra, Hindereen, Mohammed, would be joining Deya and Hewr at the house, and it would be full of kids again! We brought them all home, and were very excited.

Friday we were going to have dinner all together with the families to say welcome home, but we were completely out of food, and had to do a weekly market run. Emily’s condition was not improving much, and her mother actually flew from the United States to be with her. At least they ruled out Swine flu. Donna one of our head volunteers stayed with the mother in Tel Aviv, so this left us with 4 people at the house to do the shopping (which is less than you realize when you see what we have to do!) One of the 4 is a new staff member from the UK named Tim, he as gotten a crazy introduction as well. We drove to 3 different markets, the Co-op where we got things in bulk, the Arab market where we got veggies, and the Jewish market where we got meat. At the Arab market Justin dropped us off to circle the van, the rest of us ran into the tiny produce shop, and Robin yelled out how many kilos of each thing we needed, and we all ran to bag it up. It felt like a scavenger hunt. Feeding 5 children, 5 parents, and 7 staff takes a lot more food than you could ever imagine. We got that all done, and headed to the Jewish market. Justin had saved the Jewish market to go with me so we were experiencing this together, and let me tell you it was an experience! Hundreds of people, yelling, pushing, the smells, and the sights it was amazing. We ate lunch their got the meat and had a blast!

That night we al had Iraqi food prepared by the mothers, and we rested a little more, going to sleep a little early not thinking anything because Sabbath was tomorrow however, once again, God must have known we needed it. My Sabbath was far from restful. I was actually supposed to lead worship at the church we go to with some other staff, but instead I was awakened at 4:45am by a pounding on my door. Donna our lead staff was still gone, and as I woke up I hear Mohammed’s father outside the door. He was trying to get my attention without coming in out of respect, and all he said was Sidra, Sidra. I sprung out of bed, threw on some clothes and rush to the families sleeping area. Baby Sidra had not slept all night, had thrown up, and labored breathing. I went and got Justin, who called the Ward and were told to give her some Tylenol like medicine, and bring her in. Always smiley Sidra was crying and in a lot of pain. Justin and I worked together to mash up the pills mix them with water, and put them in a syringe for her to drink. We loaded her in the van, and took her to Tel Aviv. After we got their they admitted her, did blood tests and an X-ray. At around 10:30am Justin and I drove home, and exhausted passed out. When we woke up we got news from Donna that Sidra had fluid build up around her heart, they had re opened her chest, and she went into cardiac arrest, she actually died on the table, and they revived her, she is sedated in the ICU now.

Later that night, it was brought to our attention that Mohammed and Hindereen had fevers. We took their temperature, and it was very high, while Justin called the Ward, I set them up with a the fan, and cool wash cloths. They advised us to bring them in, and we did. When we got to the hospital around 10pm, we were told their was no room, apparently there was a virus going around the hospital, and many of the kids had fevers already. After waiting for a long time, and getting them check out they were both admitted, Hindereen was put on a bed in the hallway! We prayed with them both before we left, and arrived back at the house after 2am.

This morning I got word that they are testing the whole hospital for Swine flu, but that Emily is doing better and they are moving her out of ICU.

We have today off to rest, and Justin and I might try and see some more sights. Please continue to pray for all the kids and staff here. Also continue to pray for my own sister Emily and my family back home, the latest news is that Emily will be having another MRI in the next few weeks and then a lumbar puncture eventually, but as for now she got her wish of an uninterrupted time at Hume lake Christian Camp! Have a great week!

In Him,

Maddie