Pre-Shabbat Update, Moshe Avitan (Moshe Rafael ben Aliza A'isha)

Baruch Hashem, thank G-d.

G-d has been performing great miracles, as you'll read in Ruth's letter about her son-in-law, Moshe. I also heard that another, even more seriously wounded Israel, Aharon Karov, who was considered, "anosh," the Hebrew term for dying, is already starting to walk. We must never give up!

Dear Relatives and Friends,

This will be the last update until late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and I'm happy to tell you that Moshe continues to improve in health. Last night he was in quite a lot of pain but today says that the pain is a lot less. Sarah stayed with him last night but neither of them got any sleep due to a lot of noise in the ward. Hopefully tonight will be better.

He says that his sight is a little better in both eyes and that the double vision problem is better than it was. They say that his sight should continue to improve although we must be prepared for the possibility that it may never be the same as it was. However, knowing Moshe and the distance he has travelled in the last ten days - "they" could well be wrong!

Moshe decided to ignore the fact that he was told that he wouldn't be able to eat solid food for four or five days and has been eating normal food! This, in spite of the fact that he cannot open his mouth very far due to the damage that was done to the jaw "hinge" and the repair work that has been done (this is what I understood - it's possible that I've got it a bit wrong). He has to do frequent exercises on his jaw, holding his bottom jaw open for a length of time or having it held open for him. He is working hard on this.

Now for the amazing news - there is talk of him being discharged in the early part of next week. When this happens, he will have to continue to come back as an outpatient and he still has to have the support padding taken out in a few weeks. It's almost unbelievable that only ten days ago we thought we had lost him. What a fighter!!

A long road to recovery lies ahead and he still needs your prayers, but he's on the way!!

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom (a good and peaceful Sabbath),

Ruth