Narjis was born in Baghdad, Iraq in October 2016. When she was about two weeks old, her parents Akar and Nor Maseer noticed she was breathing fast. They took her to the doctor and an echocardiogram showed she had two holes in her heart, an atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect. The doctor gave her medicines and told the family to return in 1 week. After this week, Narjis did not improve and the doctor said she needed surgery. Unfortunately, there is no hospital or heart surgeon available for babies in Iraq, so doctors advised Narjis’ parents to take her outside Iraq.
Advocating for his daughter, Narjis’ father Akar found a new doctor in Baghdad, but this doctor said her lung pressures were too high and surgery would now be impossible. Not losing hope, Akar found yet another doctor for his daughter, but still the same answer: his family must travel outside of Iraq for her surgery, and if they didn’t she may not survive until her 1st birthday. At two months old, Narjis barely weighed as much as a newborn baby because of her heart defect.
Still searching everywhere for a better solution, Narjis’ father saw an advertisement on Facebook from Al Kafeel Super Specialty Hospital in Karbala with the news that Dr Novick and his team would be coming to provide heart surgeries for children. Narjis’ parents packed their bags and drove to Karbala to meet our cardiologist on the first day of our arrival. Her heart surgery was scheduled for the next day.
Now 3 months old, Narjis received her life-saving heart surgery to close those two large holes on January 16th. She recovered quickly and was back in her mother’s arms on the ward within two days. Narjis’s parents are very thankful that their sweet little daughter is healing and eating better. Just two weeks ago they were fearful they may lose their newborn baby, and now they see her future is bright.
