[Northern Neighbour]

Originally Posted by seebert

Tammy writes this morning:
"We have Hope!
Today the doctor sat us all down and had a "CARE" meeting. We had a translator with us and the doctor gave a breakdown of everything happening with Saja and answered any questions Abdul had. Abdul's major concern "will she end up like his nephew, Ibrahim". The doctor reassured Abdul that Saja is holding her own. Her tongue is definitely improving each day. The swelling in her body will decrease with time. Two major obstacles at the moment are her lungs and the skin around her trach is breaking down. Infection is his main concern. He stated Saja is a very sick young lady and will be here in the ICU at least another two weeks, if not more. Recovery will be slow but the doctor reassured Abdul while Saja is seriously ill he doesn't think she will be leaving us anytime soon. Abdul cried upon hearing that news. Thank you My God, thank you My God."

Hopefully she has turned a corner and will continue to improve.

[cclngthr]

Originally Posted by seebert

Tammy writes this morning:
"We have Hope!
Today the doctor sat us all down and had a "CARE" meeting. We had a translator with us and the doctor gave a breakdown of everything happening with Saja and answered any questions Abdul had. Abdul's major concern "will she end up like his nephew, Ibrahim". The doctor reassured Abdul that Saja is holding her own. Her tongue is definitely improving each day. The swelling in her body will decrease with time. Two major obstacles at the moment are her lungs and the skin around her trach is breaking down. Infection is his main concern. He stated Saja is a very sick young lady and will be here in the ICU at least another two weeks, if not more. Recovery will be slow but the doctor reassured Abdul while Saja is seriously ill he doesn't think she will be leaving us anytime soon. Abdul cried upon hearing that news. Thank you My God, thank you My God."

What takes time is the lungs healing from being stretched and compressed, which happens with spinal curvature patients. After being compressed/stretched for so long, it is common that the lungs develop scar tissue and the sacks that are not used become hard. They may/may not recover fully, but it takes a while to heal. It took me a full month after my surgeries I had to correct the spinal curve I had. 2 weeks, it was better, but not fully perfect.

It takes time.

[cclngthr]

Update from Russell:

Around three this morning Saja started to have trouble breathing. The respitory therapists worked with her and she improved, then a few hours later her temperature started to climb. It got to around 104 and they got it back down to normal. At nine am she had oxygen exchange problems and her co2 went to 99.

They called in the respitory therapist again and they started to talk with the drs. about putting her on an oscillating ventilator.

Those of you that are a little more medical savy than I am might know what that is, I don't.

Dr. Poss came in and as always happens when the doctor comes in things always get better. Her co2 is now back to normal, and Dr. Poss said that they will not put her on an oscillating ventilator.

As all of you have seen from the updates, this has been a roller coaster. Right now she is doing well. But it is still a wait and see attitude amongst the medical personel.

Carmen and I will start a fast tomorrow for Saja, any one that wants to join us in this day of fasting and prayer please feel free to join us.

With love and Blessings to all of you.

[cclngthr]

Update

If anyone would have told me I would be sitting on the floor of a hospital sleep room eating an Iraqi meal with a Muslim man I would never have believed it in a million years. I'm a simple woman born and raised in the hills of West Virginia.

But today brought a lot of God's people together. Liz and her husband, James, have a child in this ICU who is also seriously ill. They went beyond their own problems and shopped at the Iraqi market and brought Abdul his first Iraqi meal from Utah. As his sister he came for me and we sat down on the floor, used a newspaper as a tablecloth and shared this simple meal. We ate lamb, bread, pickles, tomato, onion. The meal was delicious because it allowed Abdul and I to relax. We talked about Wardah, his beautiful wife, Saja - our sick daughter, Abu Danny, Baraa, Dhuha, Ali, Liz and her husband and the new Iraqi friends they are bringing to Abdul's door to share his burden. Liz has the word out to the Iraqi community to look for Strawberry Shortcake DVDs in Arabic. Strawberry and her friends are Saja's favorite television show.

Saja is resting comfortably today and I know it would make her so happy to see God's people coming together. Thank you all for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement.

[Jacobsbigbrother]

Saja stayed awake for about one hour this morning and all her stats are holding. The wound team treated her neck and the dentist came in. He said what's causing her so many problems with her bite block is she has a loose baby tooth in that area that is very sensitive. They are staying on top of it but her tongue is so pink and beautiful.

This is such a good sign.

This is an update from Tammy. I just hope things are going to continue to improve as time passes.

[cclngthr]

Originally Posted by Jacobsbigbrother

Saja stayed awake for about one hour this morning and all her stats are holding. The wound team treated her neck and the dentist came in. He said what's causing her so many problems with her bite block is she has a loose baby tooth in that area that is very sensitive. They are staying on top of it but her tongue is so pink and beautiful.

This is such a good sign.

This is an update from Tammy. I just hope things are going to continue to improve as time passes.

It is going to be slow though. it may seem like it is not going fast enough, but we have to remember that Saja has other medical issues and it takes a bit longer.

With Ali and Baraa, since they are not paralyzed, recovery usually is faster with the same kind of surgery.

[cclngthr]

Saja had a hard night last night:

I was told that it was up to me whether or not to post this latest update. After a bit of thought, I have decided to go ahead with the posting, because one thing that is standing out to me is that here we are, more than 200 of us, of all different races, religions, levels of spiritualism, from all across the world, hoping and praying for this little girl, her family and the people who are taking care of them to have strength and to heal, inside and out. When all this started, I remember seeing in the video that Abdul had been praying to God, and asked him to send angels to help his family.

And here we are.

I am of the belief that there are -real- angels, but they also come in the form of people here on this world whose combined love and positive thinking can stand against all sorts of obstacles. For a couple weeks now, we've been channeling our love toward a little girl most of us have never met, yet she touches our hearts.

I will say this much before I post this update: Since I got involved with IDAA and have pleaded so much for Saja, Tammy, Russell and all the family, that things have been different for me in my own life. Better. I -feel- better, and I know that my voice makes a difference. Yours do too...And so I chose to post mostly because I believe this is why we are here. Ultimately it will be God's decision whether Saja stays with her family, and I think we influence that decision. What we're doing does not only help the precious little girl, it affects ourselves, too. Look into your own lives, and see if you think maybe the love you're sharing for a girl you may not have met, and may never meet, has affected how you feel, how others feel around you, and so on. Do not give up. Bring more people here, help to bring entire churches to their knees to pray if you can, and we can help to heal Saja.

The update, at last:

"Last night found Saja knocking on Heaven's door again. I think this would be about the 8th or 9th time since her surgery. As I sat in the chair beside her bed all the doctors ran into the room. I heard the words "crash cart", "bag her", "she's flat-lined", "no pulse". The doctors were so incredibly fast and good and caring. The whole episode lasted about 3 minutes then I heard the words "she's breathing". Heartbeat back to normal. What happened?? they all asked the nurse. It really doesn't take that much for Saja to drop from 100 to zero. A twist, a turn, a touch. She's still walking the tightrope.

After it was over I asked directions to the chapel. Abdul, the Warrant, and I have been raised under three separate beliefs. However, we all have the same faith. Saja is in God's tender loving care. He watches over her each day, each hour, each minute. "

[Jacobsbigbrother]

I was told that it was up to me whether or not to post this latest update. After a bit of thought, I have decided to go ahead with the posting, because one thing that is standing out to me is that here we are, more than 200 of us, of all different races, religions, levels of spiritualism, from all across the world, hoping and praying for this little girl, her family and the people who are taking care of them to have strength and to heal, inside and out. When all this started, I remember seeing in the video that Abdul had been praying to God, and asked him to send angels to help his family.

And here we are.

I am of the belief that there are -real- angels, but they also come in the form of people here on this world whose combined love and positive thinking can stand against all sorts of obstacles. For a couple weeks now, we've been channeling our love toward a little girl most of us have never met, yet she touches our hearts.

I will say this much before I post this update: Since I got involved with IDAA and have pleaded so much for Saja, Tammy, Russell and all the family, that things have been different for me in my own life. Better. I -feel- better, and I know that my voice makes a difference. Yours do too...And so I chose to post mostly because I believe this is why we are here. Ultimately it will be God's decision whether Saja stays with her family, and I think we influence that decision. What we're doing does not only help the precious little girl, it affects ourselves, too. Look into your own lives, and see if you think maybe the love you're sharing for a girl you may not have met, and may never meet, has affected how you feel, how others feel around you, and so on. Do not give up. Bring more people here, help to bring entire churches to their knees to pray if you can, and we can help to heal Saja.

The update, at last:

"Last night found Saja knocking on Heaven's door again. I think this would be about the 8th or 9th time since her surgery. As I sat in the chair beside her bed all the doctors ran into the room. I heard the words "crash cart", "bag her", "she's flat-lined", "no pulse". The doctors were so incredibly fast and good and caring. The whole episode lasted about 3 minutes then I heard the words "she's breathing". Heartbeat back to normal. What happened?? they all asked the nurse. It really doesn't take that much for Saja to drop from 100 to zero. A twist, a turn, a touch. She's still walking the tightrope.

After it was over I asked directions to the chapel. Abdul, the Warrant, and I have been raised under three separate beliefs. However, we all have the same faith. Saja is in God's tender loving care. He watches over her each day, each hour, each minute. "

[scagjockey]

This photo is courtesy of Liz who has met Abdul and Saja while her own daughter is recovering from a liver transplant.
You can read her story at http://liverforlulu.blogspot.com/

The Iraqi man I mentioned before became my friend when I shook his hand and we've just become better friends everyday. He is accompanied by a beautiful, wonderful American soldier who has spent countless days here at the hospital by his daughter Saja's bedside. I'll call her St. T (Tammy? perhaps). She is a second mother to all his 6 children, they love her dearly. She has done 3 tours of duty in Iraq. She is such a hero on so many levels. And that is all I will say about her. Another hero in their story is Warrant Officer Russel Hayes of Idaho. He, being a father of a Little Person made it his mission with the help of Matt Roloff (Little People, Big World. TLC) to get this family out of Iraq and provide their 3 dwarf children with life saving surgeries as well as Abdul with his brain surgery around the corner. It would not have been detected without the intuition of Warrant Officer Hayes.

As I said before, Abdul speaks very little English and Arabic interpreters are only sent for important care meetings with Doctors and other experts. St. T doesn't speak Arabic although Abdul's children speak English very well, thanks to her. I know first hand as I spoke with 3 of them on the phone yesterday. So needless to say, it must be very hard for Abdul to have no one to talk to, no one to fully communicate with.


James and I put our heads together and thought...."who do we know that speaks Arabic?" Most Utahans would probably not know anyone but LUCKILY we do. One of James' clients and now a friend named Waleed is from the Middle East. With excitement we called him and within hours 2 Iraqi consulates were at the hospital meeting with Abdul. VICTORY! He now has visitors everyday. Tonight he will be dining on authentic Iraqi food and speaking in his own tongue to people that are familiar with him, his beliefs and culture. He's been surrounded. He deserves everything good that can come his way. Religious leaders will be meeting with him soon and allow the means for him to worship as he pleases.

This man is also a Hero. In Iraq he was asked by Al-Qaeda to help with their terrorism against American soldiers. He declined. They then offered him money. Declined again. Then they put him on a death list. He was able to find refuge for him and his family in a green zone, his nephew not being as lucky. Tortured and killed by AL-Qaeda for his non-cooperation. They were granted visas under the Specail Immigrant Program to the amazing US of A. His daughter Saja has made improvements in the last 24 hours. Please pray for her and his family as you all have for my LuLu and ours. Please take the time to look at the links below to get to know Abdul and his precious family better. Saja is now LuLu's first Little Friend, but hopefully not her last.

Ccl: Judging from the picture, it looks like they do have Saja on an incline.

[GrayC]

I'm searching for Strawberry Shortcake in Arabic. I wonder if she would take any other substitutes if we can't find it.