Zahava has been moved to a stroke ward at the Royal Brisbane. This is good because the ICU where she was always had ongoing tests and people going in and out, with no real chance for rest.

Now she is in the ward she is still constantly monitored, but not as invasively. She can breath on her own via the tracheostomy and eats smoothies via a tube down her nose. At the moment she is very tired and only rouses a couple of times per day where she opens her eyes fully and acknowledges me and phil. She communicates with her left foot, and her right side remains largely motionless, although we only ask one or two questions because she tires quickly.

At the moment her condition isn’t any worse or better, we just try and give her as much rest as she can get in between the x-rays, drugs, moving her into different positions and all the other things they do to her in hospital. Our hope is that with rest she shows increased responsiveness, but at the moment it’s all about patience.

We appreciate your ongoing support. Phil and I are with her as much as we can during the day and go home for sleep and dinner. We understand you may wish to come visit her, but for the moment please consider how tired she is and save your energy for prayers for her.

Thank you,

Yaro and Phil

Zahava has made it through two procedures in the last two days. Today the important surgery was for her to have a tracheostomy so she can breath without the use of the ventilator, which has been in her throat since she entered hospital. She can breath on her own, but there are concerns about her being able to clear secretions, so she will have to be slowly and carefully weened off support.

In terms of response, she has shown indication that she can hear me and phil and the nurses/doctors and has communicated mostly with her left foot. We hope now with the procedures out of the way she will show continued response in other areas of her body.

The doctors have told us that she will eventually be moved out of the intensive care ward and into the stroke specialist general ward, but not until they are clear the tracheostomy breathing is stable.

As always myself and Phil are with her every day and go in and hold her hand and talk to her. She rests when she can, but the nurses and doctors do have to continue to observe her, so it is difficult for her to get uninterrupted sleep.

Thanks again to everyone who has come to the hospital to visit us, called, sent through text messages, emails, facebook messages, twittered and left comments on this blog. We appreciate all the support and well wishes and continue to need your prayers to help mum improve to a point where she can return to a life of some quality after this challenging time.

I’l have more updates as I can.

Yaro and on behalf of Phil.

Once again we spent the day in hospital with my mother. At the moment her body is showing signs of recovery, however what we really need to see is signs of recovery from the stroke, which so far have been minimal.

The good news is her heart rate is looking more regular and she breathes on her own. Her movement is minimal however, and we don’t know exactly how conscious she exactly is.

Our main focus now is being with her every day, holding her hand and seeing if her mind will repair. It could take a long time, so patience is the main ingredient (plus all of your wonderful prayers and love – thank you!).

I will report again later in the week as I can.

Thank you,

Yaro and on behalf of Phil.

Zahava is still in a stable condition at the hospital and is showing a mild increase in response to our voices (me and Phil, her partner).

At this stage tests are still being done to ascertain what has caused the stroke and ongoing assessment of how responsive she is. At the moment we hope and pray she shows continued improvement and responds in greater capacity to the point where she becomes fully conscious.

We still require as much of your prayers and love as possible as we look for improvement to her condition. We may have only begun a very long recovery period, so please keep the support coming, we all appreciate it, especially Zahava (knowing that she is cared for by so many people would comfort her a lot, so please share a thought for her every day).

I will update you with more news as I can.

Thank you,

Yaro Starak

As many of you know Zahava had a stroke two days ago. Many of her friends, colleagues and students have asked for updates on her condition, which I will attempt to provide for you via this website.

Today is June 9th and Zahava is in a stable condition in the intensive care unit. She is not communicating with people as a result of the stroke and is monitored 24/7 to see if she becomes more responsive.

The stroke specialist advised that what we need right now is patience to see how she recovers. It is possible she will be able to walk and talk again, which is what we are praying for.

In terms of how you can help, the ward she is in cannot take any flowers or gifts, so I ask only that you please keep my mother in your prayers and focus only on positive thoughts about her recovering and becoming 100% healed.

Thanks for your support and love,

Yaro her son, and on behalf of Phil, her partner.