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Leena Returns to Iraq without Surgery
April 27, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
An shot from Leena’s catheter procedure revealing a misdiagnosis and heightened risk for surgery and post-operative course.
It was not an easy decision - and only the second time we’ve ever made it - but a misdiagnosis in Iraq brought us to a fork in the road in Istanbul: (a) take on a high-risk, complicated surgery with a long post-operative course or (b) use the limited resources we have at our disposal to provide a higher impact, less risky surgery for other children waiting in line.
These are not decisions that are easy enough to summarize in a few sentences. These are not “one-for-one” tradeoffs and the complexities can bring otherwise decisive, Type-A people to a complete deadlock. Leena is dear to us, irreplaceable to her family, and precious in the sight of GOD. But there are times when providing surgery for one feels like an act of treason against another. In our case, Leena was a last minute, highly urgent, highly complicated surgery who applied in the midst of our attempts to fulfill previous commitments to less complicated, less risky, more predictable children.
It broke our hearts and we made the decision slowly over 4-5 days through many tears and prayers. But in the end, we sent Leena back to Iraq.
We contacted our friends at Shevet Achim and asked them to consider Leena for surgery and found out that her cardiologist and Kurdistan Save the Children in Iraq had already made the appeal as well. We are very grateful to them for filling in for the family at a time when we were unable.
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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. |
Baby Leena Leaves Iraq for Urgent Surgery in Turkey
April 14, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
It was about mid-morning on Sunday when Leena’s dad came into our office, frantically looking for help for his daughter who was dying before his eyes from her congenital heart defect.
We contacted our partners in Istanbul at the Anadolu Medical Center and they concurred: it might be too late for Leena, now 50 days old, but if there was any remaining chance she should come immediately.
With unprecedented speed we worked with Leena’s father and their extended family to get Leena to surgery. The family and friend network rallied quickly sold their car and rallied with a total of $10,000. Within just a few hours we were able to get our local staff, Leena, and her mother on the very last seats out of Iraq on Tuesday’s flight to Istanbul.
The picture above is Leena’s last moments with her father before leaving him to go back to the village where he is 8 year old Mohammed Star’s elementary school teacher, whom we sent to surgery in November 2009.
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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. |
Muhammed Plays Happily in His Room Post-Surgery; Mom Heaps Praise and Thanks
March 1, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
There are very few words needed here: Muhammed had urgent surgery 5 days ago amidst quickly rising pulmonary pressure that threatened to take his life or render him inoperable. Today, Muhammed is playing in his private room after being extubated this weekend and discharged from ICU earlier this morning.
Muhammed’s mother was all smiles and full of praise and gratitude for the Preemptive Love Coalition and ‘all those people in America and around the world’ who gave so that her son could live.
Enjoy the photos… We certainly enjoyed the time we spent with their family this morning!
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Isn’t it amazing to watch life-saving in progress? Part of the reason we can do this every month is because of people like you who give $25, $50 & $100 in our monthly sponsorship program to save lives each month! SIGN UP AS A MONTHLY SPONSOR TO HELP FINISH THEIR FUNDING NOW! |
Follow Muhammed Adnan on Twitter: @MuhammedAdnan. Subscribe to Muhammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Muhammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) 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. |
Baroof Worries in His Room Before Going to Surgery This Morning
March 1, 2010 by Ruth · Leave a Comment
I spent an hour with 12-year-old Baroof this morning right before he was scheduled to have his life-saving surgery.
He’s a really sweet boy from a village in the north of Iraq. He speaks a different dialect of Kurdish from the one I know, but despite the language barrier we were still able to understand each other some. He told me that he’s really missing his dad and his brother and sister who are just a little older than him. He seemed a nervous as he waited which is to be expected, and he was also very hungry from having to fast before the surgery.
He was very excited to be able to talk to his dad for a few minutes before I left him but from the tears in his eyes afterwards we could tell that he is really missing him.
Baroof was taken into surgery at 11:40 a.m. Istanbul time. We’ll keep you updated on Baroof as we hear more in the next few hours.
Follow Baroof on Twitter: @BaroofAbdul. Subscribe to Baroof’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Baroof’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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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. |
Meet Baroof (Twitter: @BaroofAbdul)
March 1, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Baroof is the fourth of the initial four children we brought with us to Iraq on February 23rd. He came to us through an organization in northern Iraq. When Prof. Dr. Sertaç Çiçek and his team saw Baroof in our Iraq screening two weeks ago, they wondered whether or not he would be operable. In any case, the window of operability was certainly closing quickly.
Baroof’s condition is known as an “aortopulmonary window” - or AP window - a rare heart defect in which a hole between the major blood vessel feeding the heart and the one going to the lungs. AP windows are so very rare they account for approximately .1% of all congenital heart defects according to U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Baroof was admitted to a diagnostic catheterization on Thursday night in which Dr. Levent from the Anadolu Medical Center determined he would be operable - and confirmed that he very much needed surgery… and fast.
More information to come on Baroof…
Follow Baroof on Twitter: @BaroofAbdul. Subscribe to Baroof’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Baroof’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
*In accordance with PLC’s desire to lend a hand-up by avoiding strict hand-outs (when possible), Baroof’s family worked with the regional government and with personal and government funds contributed $6,000 towards PLC’s highly-discounted surgery prices.
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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. |
Sozyar is Resting, Doing Well, and on Life-Support in ICU
February 26, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Sozyar’s surgery went great - exactly according to plan. Her situation is so complex that she will likely need a follow-up surgery in four or five years - but even with today’s fix, known as a bidirectional Glenn, she has the chance to live a much healthier, longer life than was imaginable just a few hours ago.
That said, no child is “out of the woods” until they are extubated and out of ICU. She is still in critical condition. Do pray for her.
From all of us at the Preemptive Love Coalition and her parents,
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Isn’t it amazing to watch life-saving in progress? We are able to do this because people like you give $10, $25, and $50 - or whatever they could - to impact the future of kids in Iraq. |
Follow baby Sozyar on Twitter: @SozyarHamdan. Subscribe to Sozyar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sozyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) 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. |
Muhammed Resting, Intubated in ICU After ‘Total Correction’
February 26, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
The words “total correction” bring a great deal of joy to our ears every time we hear them! The doctors here have repeatedly found highly complex cases unlike anything they see elsewhere in the world when working on our kids from Iraq. So every total correction is that much more exciting!
But as we’ve said before, Muhammed was rushed to us due to his extremely high pulmonary pressures. Things seem to be under control right now in ICU, but these things have a propensity for going south quickly. Please keep Muhammed, his mother in Istanbul, and his anxious father in Iraq in your prayers.
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Isn’t it amazing to watch life-saving in progress? We are able to do this because people like you give $10, $25, and $50 - or whatever they could - to impact the future of kids in Iraq. |
Follow Muhammed Adnan on Twitter: @MuhammedAdnan. Subscribe to Muhammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Muhammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) 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. |
Sozyar’s Surgery Was a Success Thanks to the Perfusionist & the Whole Team!
February 25, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Did you ask yourself what this highly trained medical professional is doing sitting down in the middle of an intense, life-saving surgery? We did too the first time we saw it! But it turns out that most of the time, these heart surgeries - while interesting - are rather uneventful for a team that has logged thousands of hours together like our partners in Turkey.
Still, this man is not sitting down because he’s too good to stand up. This is - Hasan Solak - one of the perfusionists on Prof. Dr. Sertaç Çiçek’s surgical team. During Dr. Çiçek’s visit to Iraq last week we talked a great deal about the need for highly trained perfusionists if the centers that are in development in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk will ever be able to perform full-blown open-heart surgeries. So it seemed like a good time for us to pause and tell you a bit more about this critical, unsung role.
In short, the perfusionist is the one responsible for the operation of the “heart-lung” machine - or the pump - for cardiopulmonary bypass surgeries. Essentially, the machine replaces the heart and lungs and allows for surgery to be performed on those vital organs. It is such a critical role that it cannot be attended to by someone multitasking something else. The perfusionist’s sole job is to maintain the machine - to keep the patient alive.
For more information see the Perfusionist and Cardiopulmonary Bypass articles on Wikipedia.
Follow baby Sozyar on Twitter: @SozyarHamdan. Subscribe to Sozyar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sozyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) 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. |
Sozyar Rests Before Going in to Surgery
February 25, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Sozyar is settled in to her private room at the Anadolu Medical Center resting before surgery. More information about her surgery should be available later today…
Follow baby Sozyar on Twitter: @SozyarHamdan. Subscribe to Sozyar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sozyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) 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. |
Total Correction for Muhammed!
February 25, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Doctors accomplished the total correction they were hoping for with Muhammed. But he came to us with extremely high pulmonary pressure (in his lungs) so the coming days in ICU will be incredibly important.
Special thanks to Erica Fischer of EMF Images for partnering with us to save Muhammed’s life. At the suggestion of EMF’s Erica Fischer, Cameron and Ben (left) donated the sitting fee for their engagement pictures to the Preemptive Love Coalition to help fund Muhammed’s surgery. This ongoing partnership with EMF promises to save a lot of lives in Iraq and engage the hearts of many who thought they were just signing up for EMF’s great photography!
We know there are hundreds of you out there doing amazing stuff like this to save lives. Sometimes we just don’t know what you’re up to! Contact us.
Follow Muhammed Adnan on Twitter: @MuhammedAdnan. Subscribe to Muhammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Muhammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) 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. |
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