Our little Rusul has a new foot! She’s happily walking away on her new prosthetic and will be starting twice-a-day therapy as of tomorrow. At last Thursday’s appointment Rusul hopped on the examination table, pulled on her new prosthesis, jumped down and started walking! (Apparently, this isn’t the norm for someone just getting a prosthetic, but if you’ve met Rusul, you’d have guessed it’d be what she’d do!) She even entertained a bit with some mini-skips and hops, just to show us she could do it! I’ve even had to actually STOP her from taking off running as Ed Skewes (her prostheticist) said that this isn’t the “final” foot and it’ll break if she runs. She could do it if she tried though; and she’s aching to try!
I just got back from a weekend in Asheville with Rusul, staying at the beautiful mountain home of Paul Turner and visiting with him and Ymani Simmons (both of Asheville’s core group). The Unitarian Church in Asheville was donating Sunday’s collection to Rusul and NMV, and we wanted to be there for that. A big thanks to Lew Patrie of the UU church, and Susan Oehler of the Asheville Core group for setting this up!
Just to let you know that Noora is doing wonderfully. She has now had two post-op check-ups and is progressing along just as they had hoped. This past Thursday, her suture line had healed enough that they were able to begin the balloon expansion process, which will eventually create the skin that will cover the new prosthetic skull. Dr. Atwood will be expanding the balloon every 5-7 days for the next 6(+) weeks. Thankfully, the procedure is essentially painless!
Noora and Afef were honored to attend a lovely Sunday afternoon picnic, hosted by the Woodford’s Congregational Church in Portland, a couple of weeks ago (Woodford’s Church was one of the first organizations to sponsor a fundraising event for this project months before Noora’s arrival). Noora’s face lit up like a lightbulb when she saw that dalmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice, raisins, etc.) were on the menu! It’s one of her favorite foods, and one that she frequently talks her mom into making for her (per Afef). And, last week, Aynne Doil (a volunteer at RMH) kindly put on a delicious Middle Eastern dinner at the Ronald McDonald House, which Afef and Noora said “tasted just like home”. In anticipation of Ramadan, which began last Monday and continues throughout the month of Sept., Afef said he ate with fasting in mind. He will be abstaining from both food and fluid from sunup to sundown. Also during this time, both he and Noora will be attending nightly prayers and meals at the mosque.
Just a quick note to let you all know that Noora’s surgery went as well as they had hoped and that she is back at the Ronald McDonald House after an overnight in the hospital. Noora slept much of the day after the surgery, waking for short periods of time to talk or video/conference with her family in Iraq. Come 3:00 in the morning, however, Afef said she was wide awake and ready to play! As you can see from the photographs she’s now sporting a new headdress, which she’s not particularly thrilled about and fortunately will only have to wear for a short period of time while the wound heals. It’s been a tiring couple of days for both father and daughter but she is well on her way to feeling herself again!
Thank you so much for your love and concern,
Susi and Doug
We just wanted to write and catch you up on the “happenings” of Noora and Afef over the past few weeks since we last wrote.
First and foremost on the medical side, after seeing Dr. John Atwood (the plastic surgeon involved in the project), the decision has been made to go forward with a tissue expansion procedure, which involves implanting 1-2 balloons under healthy portions of Noora’s scalp. Weekly (for approximately 6 weeks), Dr. Atwood will be injecting saline into the balloon, stretching and creating enough new skin (with hair follicles) to be able to use it for grafting over her new prosthetic skull.
I talked with Nora and Rusul on the phone today! Cole called and put them on the line. Nora said, “Hello, Ann,” and then began rattling off in Arabic. I don’t know what she said, but she sounded happy! Rusul said, “Hello, Ann! I MISS YOU, ANN!” In caps because Rusul’s voice literally sang through the phone – it hit my heart because it sounded so much like her big sister, Salee’s. I couldn’t help feeling a sadness and longing for Salee hearing Rusul’s voice. But there was definitely no sadness on Rusul’s part. Her voice shone with the pure joy and exuberance that is also her sister’s. If you’ve met Salee, you’ll know what I mean.
My conversations with the girls were, of course, quite short, because we’d both exhausted our command of each other’s language (I have literally none of theirs) within seconds. But, those brief seconds were long enough to make me even more anxious to meet these precious little ones who’ve been so damaged by what’s happened to their country.
I spoke with Abu Ali, Rusul’s father, and Afif, Nora’s father, briefly too. Of course, I know Abu Ali well from his time here with Salee. He was his usual exuberant self, saying, “I love you, my Sister. And, I miss EVERYONE there!” Afif sounded kind and courteous, a quiet man searching for the right words in English to express himself. He said that he looked forward to meeting me and that he’d see me soon.
Rusul, left, and Nora, already having become great friends, play the universal ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’
Nora, Rusul and their fathers arrived at the No More Victims apartment in Amman, Jordan the first week in June and began their journey through the visa process. NMV Founder Cole Miller, joined them on June 18th and reports that the girls are beautiful, sweet, and full of laughs and giggles!
Nora will be heading to Portland, Maine, where she’ll receive care for a bullet wound to her head (see “Nora” page for more information), inflicted when US forces fired upon the car she was riding in with her family.
Rusul will come to Greenville, South Carolina, where she will receive treatment at Shriners Hospital in Greenville. Rusul’s leg was badly damaged in a US air strike in November, 2006, which took both of her sister Salee’s legs. Salee received double prostheses at Shriners Hospital last year. Please see “Rusul” and “Salee”’s pages for more information on the sisters.
Our little Rusul has a new foot! She’s happily walking away on her new prosthetic and will be starting twice-a-day therapy as of tomorrow. At last Thursday’s appointment Rusul hopped on the examination table, pulled on her new prosthesis, jumped down and started walking! (Apparently, this isn’t the norm for someone just getting a prosthetic, but if you’ve met Rusul, you’d have guessed it’d be what she’d do!) She even entertained a bit with some mini-skips and hops, just to show us she could do it! I’ve even had to actually STOP her from taking off running as Ed Skewes (her prostheticist) said that this isn’t the “final” foot and it’ll break if she runs. She could do it if she tried though; and she’s aching to try!
Hi Everyone!
