Today we met Rabbi Shrya. We were told of a Rabbi that had a serious medical condition and the community was coming together to help him. Rabbi Shrya is suffering from Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) a disease of unknown cause that results in an enlarged heart that does not pump properly. It is the most common reason people get heart transplants. The fact that it occurs so often, the mystery of its cause, and the lack of a long-term effective treatment other than a heart transplant makes IDC a problem for both the people who have it and their health care providers.

He is presently on five different medications. He has to make an eighty mile one way trip to Jerusalem from Ofaqim twice a week for on going treatment. The side effect from the meds has caused his legs to swell. His one leg has become dark, dark brown and the other black and blue. He now suffers from Erysipelas as well. Erysipelas is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of the skin, resulting in inflammation as well.

We were able to bring him food and a small gift to help defray the weekly costs of his trip back and forth to Jerusalem. The Rabbi is hoping to find some relief from the ongoing pain and the ultimate prognoses. Maybe there is a cardiologist out there who has experience with this disease and could offer some new insight or innovative insight in his treatment. We have a current medical report if needed.

In the mean time, we continue to pray for a miracle and help as much as we can as the L-RD supplies.