Mohammed Malnourished in ICU – Doctors Marvel at Obstinate Refusal to Eat
July 30, 2009 by Jeremy · 1 Comment



Follow 11-year-old Mohammed on Twitter: @mohammedgaelan. Subscribe to Mohammed’s updates via RSS here. Follow Mohammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Daryan Still Intubated in ICU with High Pressure in Lungs – Heart is Doing Well
July 30, 2009 by Jeremy · 19 Comments




Daryan has had a difficult few days… more than a little baby should ever have to endure as far as we’re concerned. He was extubated the day after his surgery, but the pressure in his lungs began to rise too quickly so they had to reintubate him in order to keep everything under control. Today he is scheduled for another attempt at extubation in hopes that he can breath on his own AND that his pulmonary pressures will stay down.
PLC Family Services Director, Jessica Courtney, took Daryan’s mother out on Istanbul today for a day of shopping and change of scenery. It looks like Daryan still has some fight left in him, but it’s going to take a fight. We knew before bringing Daryan here that it was risky and that the aftermath of the surgery was going to be the most difficult part. Our hopes have risen and fallen this week with this child’s pressures…
We appreciate all you who have given sacrificially to Daryan’s surgery and other’s like him. We appreciate all of the buzz you’ve created on Facebook, Twitter, and your own blogs and websites. Please keep it up… as you’ve seen this week – and as we remember all too keenly with Daryan – there are real lives at stake and a five minute blog post really can change the world.
Follow 4-month-old Daryan on Twitter: @daryansalah. Subscribe to Daryan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Daryan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Walk On: Mazyar Traverses the Hospital Campus, Plays Ball Just Days Post-Surgery
July 28, 2009 by Jessica · 56 Comments
Walking and coughing – two of the most important things a child can do after receiving a very invasive heart surgery. And Mazyar is doing both stellarly!
When we went for a walk with Mazyar in the park today outside the hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, the coastal air was refreshing and it was perfect weather for Mazyar to strut his stuff – just four days after going in to repair a large whole between the two ventricles of his heart.
Follow 3-year-old Mazyar on Twitter: @mazyartahir. Subscribe to Mazyar’s updates via RSS here. Follow Mazyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
| Jessica Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Family Services Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. She is also a mother of two children and is married to PLC's Executive Director, Jeremy Courtney. When not absorbed in caring for Iraqi children and sharing life with Iraqi families, she enjoys sewing and scrapbooking. |
Ruzhan Has Landed in Iraq & is Now Driving Home to Her Village One Week After Leaving for Surgery
July 28, 2009 by Jeremy · 404 Comments

Ruzhan has landed in Iraq and is headed home by car to her village a few hours outside the city.
Until the Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi and Dr. Sertaç Çiçek partnered with PLC, children in need of life-saving heart surgeries would typically be required to leave Iraq for months at a time in order to receive the care they needed. Ruzhan will be at home resting exactly one week from departing from her village. And when a child is sick, there’s nothing like her mother and her home to help her heal.
Toward that end, we are excited to keep working with Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi and Dr. Çiçek in the Fall (and beyond) to perform more and more surgeries in Iraq, saving more money, more lives, and allowing children to recover in an environment of love that is most familiar to them.
Follow 8-year-old Ruzhan’s continued journey post-surgery on Twitter: @ruzhanferis. Subscribe to Ruzhan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Ruzhan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Ruzhan Fit to Fly – Checking in at Airport Right Now for 11:30 Flight to Iraq
July 28, 2009 by Jeremy · 1 Comment

Modern medicine and technology is simply amazing. One week ago today (to the hour) Ruzhan left Iraq in need of a life-saving heart surgery. She will be returning on the same flight she blew in on 168 hours later with a new heart, a new life ahead of her, and an unanticipated impact on her mother, father, five sisters, brother, extended family, neighbor, community, city, tribe, and country.
For families like Ruzhan’s that live on or near the Turkish border, there is often one narrative: Turkish oppression of Kurds. And while that narrative has a self-evident history, it is not the only story going on with regards to Turkish-Kurdish relations. Ruzhan’s family now returns to their home with a new story to tell – one of Turkish kindness, generosity, sacrifice, and service on behalf of their family and other Kurdish families like them. Through this new story and the telling of it, an entire family and community will have the opportunity to think differently about the black and white narratives that have often dominated and defined their lives.
Saving Ruzhan’s life was important enough. But thankfully, it’s not the only thing going on when you give to the Preemptive Love Coalition.
We are grateful to our partners in Turkey: the Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi and AtlasJet for their generosity to the people of Iraq. We could not do this well – and would not want to – without visionary partners like them.
Follow 8-year-old Ruzhan on Twitter: @ruzhanferis. Subscribe to Ruzhan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Ruzhan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Daryan Alive & Well in ICU After Difficult Surgery – Soon to be Extubated
July 27, 2009 by Jeremy · 2 Comments
After one of the most obviously difficult set of problems we’ve ever seen, we are delighted to celebrate Daryan’s successful surgery, all of the nurses, doctors, and staff at Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi.
The recovery process is still a difficult process. I don’t think any of us will breath that final sigh of relief until Daryan is back in Iraq, gaining weight, and crawling around his house for the very first time. But thankfully, thanks to all your help, that day is much closer to being realized than it has ever been.
Follow 4-month-old Daryan on Twitter: @daryansalah. Subscribe to Daryan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Daryan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Daryan in Surgery Right Now Facing 20% Risk of Serious Complications
July 27, 2009 by Jeremy · 428 Comments

Daryan’s empty bed. The sight keeps his mother out of the room for the duration of the surgery…


Daryan is about half-way through his surgery with Dr. Sertaç Çiçek (above) and the team. After an estimated 20% risk of serious complications, we are all nervous and eager to hear some good news for Baby Daryan. Unlike the other children, Daryan’s surgery is not being conducted through the chest cavity, but rather through the back. And due to the complicated nature of Daryan’s condition, it’s highly unlike that the doctors will even touch his heart properly, opting instead to work primarily on the vessels coming and going from the heart today.
Another few hours and we should know some news… in the meantime, we wait.
Follow 4-month-old Daryan on Twitter: @daryansalah. Subscribe to Daryan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Daryan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Ruzhan Resting in Her Room & Cleared to Return to Iraq on Tomorrow’s Flight
July 26, 2009 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
Ruzhan has been resting in her sunny room over the weekend and was cleared to return to Iraq on tomorrow’s flight!
Follow 8-year-old Ruzhan on Twitter: @ruzhanferis. Subscribe to Ruzhan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Ruzhan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Daryan Heads to Surgery in 8 Hours w/ Est. 80% Likelihood of Success
July 26, 2009 by Jeremy · 414 Comments


After days of watching and waiting for other parents’ children to receive the life-saving heart surgeries they came to receive, Daryan’s turn has come. Daryan will be in surgery at midnight Central Time (just eight hours from the time of this posting).
Unlike most of the other surgeries, however, whose risk factors have been between 5-10%, Daryan’s surgery has a very sobering 20% amount of risk involved (in the surgery itself). Moreover, the ability for this little child to recover from a surgery of this magnitude…. that is something that only God knows.
PLC staff and summer interns have done their best to serve Daryan’s mother (and all of the families) during their wait. Above is PLC co-founder, Jessica Courtney, giving Daryan’s a much needed break from the non-stop responsibilities of motherhood. As Daryan goes to surgery in the morning and recovers in ICU for the following few days, those are no doubt responsibilities she will be happy to take up again as soon as she can.
One thing about this work we do – it helps us appreciate the things that matter in life.
Follow 4-month-old Daryan on Twitter: @daryansalah. Subscribe to Daryan’s updates via RSS here. Follow Daryan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |
Mazyar Recovering Well in ICU Living Off of His Own Heart | Total Correction!
July 26, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment


Before running out of the hospital Friday night to catch the last bus home we snuck into ICU and snapped these few shots of Mazyar resting right after admission to ICU. He’s doing well and it expected to return to his private room tomorrow. His father has been great to be around and we’ve learned a lot from him about faith and friendship.
Follow 3-year-old Mazyar on Twitter: @mazyartahir. Subscribe to Mazyar’s updates via RSS here. Follow Mazyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures) on the PLC blog here.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney. |






