Karim's Second Doctor Appointment

Spiritual Friendship ^ | July 20, 2007 | Liz

[NYer]

Today we saw the orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Yousif Hamati, from Jordan. It was nice for Ebtisam because he speaks Arabic. I filled him in on what the dermatologist recommended. He can normally do prosthetics, but in this case he wants to do more research and find a doctor that is more capable of working with children, particularly a child with a horrible skin disease such as this. He is going to research the disease, as well as who wrote the articles on the disease, and where those doctors are located. If possible, he will speak with them. In the meantime he told me to contact a larger children's hospital to see if they would treat such a condition and to get moving on that. He recommended DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids and Shriner's Hospital in Chicago, which deals with children's prosthetics all the time. I spoke with a woman at Shriner's. I had previously written them about Karim, but without knowing the doctors' recommendations, I had nothing to really ask them. This time I gave the woman all the information. She will send us all the necessary paperwork to apply for an international treatment. This will take some time because several things must be signed by the father and the doctor in Lebanon and notarized. We must have originals returned to us in the mail; no faxes or copies are accepted. I was encouraged because Dr. Hamati said, "Now it is our job to get him the best possible care in the entire world." He is committed to helping Karim. It is his niece, Ellen, who is our interpreter.

As part of the dermatological treatment, we have to spread thick cream all over Karim's sores on his body. Ebtisam and I have done this two nights now, right before bed. It is obvious that this cream stings him, but he is very brave. No one can imagine the extent of the cracked and open sores on his little body, particularly on the soles of his feet. I cringe just putting the cream on him. I hate to hurt him, but he realizes this is to help him. Already this morning we all noticed a little difference on his face. The crusty covering was less crusty. He looked better. Perhaps with continued use of the cream we will see a big difference. The dermatologist set another appointment for next Tuesday to recheck him. This is his day off, as was this past Tuesday, and he is coming in on his day off. I find this amazing. He is truly dedicated, particularly since he is serving this patient at no cost. I do think this rare disease has peaked his interest, too, since it is right in his specialty of dermatology. Let us pray that something is learned from this study of Karim.

Ebtisam and I did fairly well without the interpreter here today. We both walk around with our dictionaries. We end up laughing a lot because we so often cannot get the message across. I am lucky to have Google Translate to help me translate to Arabic, but she cannot do the same thing because our keyboard does not have Arabic characters. Ellen will be with us tomorrow afternoon. This is good.

Tomorrow I will call the plastic surgeon and set up that appointment, hopefully for next week. I would rather get a lot of the initial appointments out of the way early on so that we can move forward on a timely basis. Please keep praying every day. Where two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is in the midst of them. We are together in a sense because we are all praying for the same intention. May God hear and answer our prayers for this little guy. God bless you all. Liz

[NYer]

The first thing I noticed this morning, was a marked improvement in Karim’s face. Please keep those prayers going for Karim, his mom, Liz and all the medical professionals who are trying to bring relief to this child. What a brave little boy!

[NYer]

Could you please post the previous threads for the benefit of those who have not followed Karim’s story. Thank you!

[trisham]

Prayers are on the way. Poor kid.

[franky1]

Our Lord be with him.

[NYer]

Thank you, Franky!

Do you and Trish also see an improvement in his appearance? How emotionally painful it must be for a child to be shunned and isolated by other children. Such a blessing to be part of this family, even if only for a while, and be accepted by the children.

[trisham]

It does appear that there is some healing taking place. It must be so hard for him, poor baby.

[Coleus]

.

[MountainFlower]

prayers going up!

[NYer]

You can see the dramatic improvements in just one week at the following thread.

The Zoo and the Eye Doctor

Thank you for your continued prayers!

[MountainFlower]

Thanks for sharing! GOD IS GOOD!

My 15 yo just got back from a mission trip to El Salvador a few hours ago. She was talking about the people they saw healed there, as if the miracles were a daily common occurrance. Not that she takes miracles for granted. She has grown up seeing what God can do! Her stories are awesome!

God has also given my 21 yo daughter and 3 weeks old grandson grandson a LIFE TESTIMONY! Karim is not only being blessed with healing, but is receiving his testimony! HALLELUJAH!

Blessings and continued prayers!!