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WE HAVE KIDS IN SURGERY RIGHT NOW! THROUGH THESE STORIES WE'RE INVITING YOU TO BE A PART OF THE NEXT LIFESAVING SOLUTION. GET TO KNOW THESE KIDS & PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN FOR THE NEXT GROUP! |
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Family Followthrough in Iraq: A Day of Post-operative Testing on Former Heart Surgery Recipients
February 22, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
Last week we were honored to have some of the excellent medical staff from the Anadolu Medical Center in Istanbul, Turkey make the trip to our office in Iraq to work with us on a few current and future initiatives. Among our agenda for the week:
The video above represents one of our agenda items for the week! In coming days we hope to post a photo narrative about the amazing alumni banquet and a story from local media about the Turkish delegation and PLC’s peacemaking agenda with them.
Don’t forget to push PLAY above to watch hope and life in motion!
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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. |
Heran Has Infection Around Her Heart 9 Months After Surgery
February 5, 2010 by Ruth · Leave a Comment
Heran had surgery in May 2009 - the first of two surgeries she’ll need to be considered completely healed. Heran is currently sick with an infection in her heart and Dr. Aso, our local pediatric cardiologist in Iraq, has recommended that she stay in hospital for the course of her antibiotic treatment so that she can be closely monitored.
She was disappointed that she doesn’t have a nice hospital room with her own personal TV like she had during her at Anadolu Medical in Turkey. There aren’t any TV’s at all available for her to watch here so we were pleased that we were able to lend her a mini portable DVD player for her stay as it will be 6-7 weeks which is a long time for anyone and a lifetime for a 7-year-old girl. She was very excited about it!
She’s been very brave so far with so many blood tests and having her cannula site changed every few days. I’ve been visiting her every couple of days for countless games of ‘Uno’! She loves that game!
Heran has been sick a lot these past few months, so we’re hoping that after this infection clears up she will be able to be back at school and that her immune system will become stronger. Visiting is limited to just 2 days a week here so both her and her mother are missing the rest of the family plus she’s missing school a lot too.
We’re thankful for special permission to visit her anytime. So we’ll do our best to keep you posted on her progress.
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Ruth Simpson is a Family Advocate for the Preemptive Love Coalition in Iraq and a certified physio-therapist. Ruth also hails from Ireland, though she's slowly losing her amazing accent amongst all the Americans. When not sharing her life with PLC's kids in Iraq, she's most often serving some other constituent group with her rehabilitative skills and compassion. |
Fighting for Families
December 8, 2009 by Cayla Willingham · Leave a Comment
When a child is chosen for surgery, their family is adopted by a member of the PLC team. This person makes it their goal to do whatever is necessary to defend the family in this time of vulnerability. They are the family advocate.
The care offered to the family goes far beyond a healthy heart. When I visited the team in Iraq a month ago, I was able to see this care first hand on various home visits I made with PLC’s family advocates.
Here are some examples of what I saw:
- Honya went to Istanbul for surgery in November. Her advocate sat with her parents to explain what the process would be like and what to expect in the hospital.
- Heran needs a follow-up surgery but must gain weight before that’s possible. Her advocate has been visiting weekly, checking her weight and encouraging her closer to this goal.
- Taban has completely recovered from her surgery but lacks motivation in school. Her advocate met with the school board, persuaded them to let her enroll, and continues to support her education.
- Zana has also been doing well, but his mother was keeping him from school for fear he would turn up sick again. After some reassurance, she allowed him to begin his studies.
- Shwana has fully recovered and is doing great, but others in his family are still in need. His family advocate is in the process of acquiring a wheelchair for his disabled cousin and was able to give helpful exercises to his grandma who recently had a stroke.
PLC does so much more than just heart surgeries; they truly care for the Iraqi people and work to show them that they matter. I was astounded to see how much is invested in the lives of the children and their families and how big of a difference it really makes.
HELP PLC IN THEIR ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF IDREES BY GIVING TO HIS SURGERY IN HONOR OF A FRIEND BELOW:
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Idrees is slated for surgery in January 2010. PLC will be collecting money for his life-saving surgery throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. What a chance to make a profound difference in the life of a child and his family! | |||
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GIVING IN HONOR OF ANOTHER
In honor of a friend or family member, donate the amount of your choice to fund a January surgery for Idrees by entering it in the field below. PLC will send you a Christmas card about Idrees along with a Preemptive Love Coalition “Hope for the Holidays” magnet as a physical expression of your gift on behalf of another.
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Cayla Willingham came to Iraq in October 2009 as a supporter and friend of the Preemptive Love Coalition because she wanted to see first hand what the work was all about. When not vacationing in lovely countries like Iraq, Cayla and her husband, Matt, live in Thailand where they live under the patronage of the Royal Princess.... and yes, it really is as cool as it sounds! |
Visitors in Iraq find PLC caring for little Heran herself & not just treating her as a project
October 7, 2009 by matt · Leave a Comment
Heran underwent a successful surgery last February, and yesterday’s follow up visit indicates continued improvement. She was all giggles as she played with Ruth, a PLC Family Advocate, by hiding her keys and showing off her English homework.
But the doctors have told her she has to gain weight in order to be eligible for a much-needed second round of surgery. Only further visits and checkups will tell if or when she’ll be eligible.
Being first time visitors, my wife and I were eager to experience PLC’s follow up process with the kids. On the practical side, these visits are for monitoring the kid’s condition pre- and post-op, but we also saw a relational aspect to it that goes beyond just a simple checkup or examination. We knew PLC was passionate about caring for Heran’s heart, now we know they’re also passionate about caring for her.
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Matt Willingham came to Iraq in October 2009 as a supporter and friend of the Preemptive Love Coalition because he wanted to see first hand what the work was all about. When not vacationing in lovely countries like Iraq, Matt and his wife, Cayla, live in Thailand where they live under the patronage of the Royal Princess.... and yes, it really is as cool as it sounds! |
An Interactive Graphic Overview of What We’ve Been Up to for the Last Few Years
August 23, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Drag and drop and click and scroll and comment and push and play your way through some of our [online] activity from the last year.
Special Features of Note:
Be sure to Click on Map>Play Events for a Worldwide Conversation of Sorts Between Our Offices Around the World
View fullscreen below for more room to play around!
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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. |
Banquet & Carnival in Iraq Celebrates Hope & A Future for Twenty of Our PLC Alumni Kids
August 20, 2009 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
Eight year old Ahmad was on the brink of death when we met him. Now he’s rambunctious and carries his little sister all around the place!
Turkey Director, Scott Bertrand, with Hospitality Coordinator, Abby Bertrand, and Rezhin’s family.
Physical Therapist and Family Advocate, Ruth Simpson, at the banquet.
Executive Director, Jeremy Courtney, with Roman and his father amidst the fun and games.
PLC 2009 Summer Intern, Joshua Gigliotti, and Mohammed
Dear Preemptive Lovers,
In the midst of our most recent series of life-saving surgeries being conducted in Istanbul, Turkey for Iraqi kids we wanted to pause on the drama and reflect for a moment on what you’ve helped us do in the past year together. To date you’ve helped us give 44 children the surgeries they so seriously needed and we’ve raised/given away over $250,000.
In celebration of this we hosted our second annual PLC Alumni Kids Banquet on July 17, 2009 in Iraq for all of the children we’ve served between August 2008 and June 2009. We had over twenty families in attendance, a small team of volunteers from a church in Texas that helped fund the banquet, and 8 summer interns from all over the U.S. We also had special guests from the local community, including renowned artists, political players, and medical professionals.
But the stars were, of course, the children themselves. What a joy it was to see little boys with brand new soccer balls - a gift that would have previously been something of a cruel joke for most of these boys. The girls came decked out in the party attire and the children were showered with thousands of dollars in gifts from supporters in the States.
It’s been a great year (we just missed announcing our second organizational birthday amidst the flurry of activity) and it’s hard to believe that we’re able to live out this dream. And we wouldn’t be able to without you… So here’s to you and the kids you’ve helped. It’s a joy to be a facilitator of your love and kindness in the world.
For Hope & Future,
Jeremy Courtney
Executive Director
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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. |
Heran Full of Energy & Center of Attention Back in Iraq
June 17, 2009 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
On Wednesday of last week PLC Family Advocates and our summer interns were blessed with the opportunity to see little Heran less than 24 hours after she arrived back in her home city.
She and her family were beaming with gratitude as she was passed from lap to lap of her four older sisters. As the youngest sibling, she is used to standing back and observing, and now she is not quite sure how to handle all of the attention. Even though her words were few, she sat by our sides and happily showed each of us every picture on the camera she took to Istanbul. She would smile shyly as her parents proudly talked about her improved overall health and new opportunities that are now before her.
Her energy was almost surprising after such an invasive surgery, quickly bouncing from the living room to the bedroom to the kitchen. Her family was so receptive and welcoming to the PLC staff; it is exciting to know that all of their hearts have been touched through this process, not just Heran’s.
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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. |
Heran is Out of Surgery & Breathing On Her Own in ICU
May 29, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Heran’s surgery was not quite the masterpiece that the doctors were hoping for. Unfortunately by the time a child reaches 7 years old there are so many years of damage that have been done to the heart by overworking, high pressure, and lack of oxygen that some of the damage is irreversible.
In Heran’s case, her pulmonary pressure was too high to perform the Fontain procedure they had hoped to do. But they were very happy with the by-pass they performed and though her pressures are still higher than they’d like, they predict she will leave ICU tonight and return to Iraq in a few days.
We’ll probably talk about a second surgery for Heran in the next year or two to finish the Fontain procedure.
In any case, she is doing wonderfully! One of her doctors said she was “perfect!”
Photo: Matt Addington
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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. |
Heran Goes Into Surgery Looking Blue
May 28, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Heran on her way into surgery with very low blood-oxygen saturation.
She has emmerged from surgery and is recovering in ICU where her blood-oxygen levels are now at over 90%. That - and all other signs - say that she is doing well!
Photo: Matt Addington
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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. |
Meet Heran
May 25, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Heran is a 7 year old girl, the youngest of 7 children. Families tend to be much bigger in Iraq! She’s much younger than the rest of her siblings and they all treat her like a little princess! Heran is currently at our partner hospital, Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi (ASM) in Turkey waiting to see if she will be accepted to life-saving heart surgery or if it is too late (and God-willing, it is not).
Everyone in her large family is so happy that she’s finally able to have a chance at the surgery that she needs and is so thankful to PLC and everyone around the world that made this essential next step possible.
Hiran is very small for her age, hopefully after her surgery she will gain some weight and the symptoms from which she currently suffers will be gone forever. She loves coloring, playing with her doll and trying to help her older sisters around the house. She has a very fun little personality, she makes us laugh a lot every time we are around her!
Keep checking back as we’ll do our best to keep you updated over the next few days of diagnostic tests, decisions, and - hopefully! - surgery.
PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Addington (ToOpenYourEyes.com)
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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. |
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