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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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Successful Surgery for Deelan & Special Call for Lifesaving Funding
March 3, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
It was all smiles after another successful heart surgery here in Istanbul. Deelan’s surgery was a “total correction” - though he is still in ICU on a treatment of nitric oxide to bring down the pressure in his lungs.
In addition to being a by-product of cigarette smoke and rush hour traffic - not to mention a body building supplement - nitric oxide is used in pediatric intensive care. From the source of all online wisdom, Wikipedia:
The endothelium (inner lining) of blood vessels uses nitric oxide to signal the surrounding smooth muscle to relax, thus resulting in vasodilation and increasing blood flow.
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Nitric oxide is considered an anti-anginal drug: it causes vasodilation, which can help with ischemic pain known as angina by decreasing the cardiac workload. By dilating the veins there is less blood returned to the heart per cycle. This decreases the amount of volume that the heart has to pump.
Nitric oxide should not be confused with “laughing gas” - or, more officially, nitrous oxide - N2O.
Nitric oxide is also very expensive. In fact, we’ve had to use it already on Muhammed and Baroof. In addition to normal surgery costs (which is essential to repair the CAUSE of pulmonary hypertension), NO can undo the previous effects of the now-repaired cause. To fix the cause and not seek to reverse the effects is to leave the net outcome the same.
We spent $2,000 per child on nitric oxide, for a total of $6,000. As much as the surgery itself, this has really proven to be the stuff that saves lives. So today I’m going to ask that you find a way to give generously to the Lifesaving Nitric Oxide Fund to pay down Muhammed, Baroof, and Deelan’s additional costs and to pave the way for future children who will need this treatment.
 Molecule of the Year (1992), Nitric Oxide |
To save lives through the very specific provision of nitric oxide, please contribute your desired amount below. One container of nitric oxide costs us approximately $2,000. |
Follow Deelan on Twitter: @DeelanKameran. Subscribe to Deelan’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Deelan’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. |
Deelan is Taken in for Time-Sensitive Surgery
March 3, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Deelan and his mom were a little unnerved this morning as they waited - and were eventually taken in to the operating room - for Deelan’s surgery to repair the massive hole in his heart and thereby decrease the life-threatening pressures in his lungs.
Meanwhile, back in Iraq, Deelan’s family waits with a lot of anxiety over the next few hours. This thing they’ve been longing for; this thing they’ve been working for - this surgery - is now a great unknown. It still stands as a beacon of hope for them, but now that it’s upon them, the realities of the risks set in in a way that was previously unknown and unanticipated.
Deelan should be out of surgery in 4-5 hours. More to come…
Follow Deelan on Twitter: @DeelanKameran. Subscribe to Deelan’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Deelan’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. |
Meet Deelan (Twitter: @DeelanKameran)
March 2, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Deelan arrived in Istanbul, Turkey last night on a plane from Iraq thanks to Atlasjet Airlines and the generous support they’ve offered to help us get this February group to surgery. If you are one of our summer interns, we highly recommend that you choose Atlasjet to fly into Iraq.
Our Family Services Director, Jessica Courtney, (who, if you’re keeping score at home, is also my wife) accompanied Deelan, his mother, and one other family to Istanbul last night to round out our February/March group of surgeries.
Special thanks to the Alice Abdi at the Anadolu Medical Center for the continual support, for staying late at the hospital to receive these dear kids, and for sending - as always - a special private van to pick up these fearful families. This keeps our costs low, speeds up our travel, and most importantly, shows the kind hearted desires of so many here in Turkey as they reach out to Kurds and the rest of the people of Iraq in providing these deeply discounted, life-saving heart surgeries.
Deelan is not doing well at all - crying nearly constantly and facing down dangerously high pulmonary pressure in addition to the huge hole between the lower two chambers of his heart .
Deelan is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday.
Follow Deelan on Twitter: @DeelanKameran. Subscribe to Deelan’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Deelan’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), Deelan’s family contributed $5,000 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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
Muhammed Resting & Smiling in His Room Waiting for Surgery
February 25, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Muhammed is full of sweet smiles waiting for surgery. More information about timing and his condition forthcoming….
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. |
Baby Muhammed Adnan Needs Urgent Surgery
January 23, 2010 by Jeremy · Comments Off
This little guy, Mohammed, came to see us in our office a few days ago (with his parents… not by himself). For a very sick baby, he is remarkably smiling and happy. He was such a joy to have in our office; brightened our day and inspired us to keep pushing forward in our life-saving, hope-giving work!
His parents are friends of little Danar Sami’s parents, whom we sent to surgery a few weeks ago. Mohammed’s father told us in our office last week that he will do whatever he can and is prepared to give all he has - $5,000 savings - to send his son to his highly urgent operation before rising pulmonary pressure leave him inoperable.
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Mohammed is scheduled for surgery in the next few weeks. We are urgently collecting money for his surgery because doctors say that waiting any longer may leave him inoperable, facing imminent death. What a chance to make a profound difference in the life of a child and his family! | |||
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ADOPT MOHAMMED’S HEALING
Donate the amount of your choice to Mohammed by entering it in the field below. All donations help the Preemptive Love Coalition send Mohammed (and any others in his group) to life-saving heart surgery.
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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. |
Hamma Discharged to His Private Room; Parents Finally Can Believe That Others Actually Love Them
January 9, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
I mentioned a few days ago that Hamma’s family had been swindled out of a 5 digit sum of money last year in their quest to serve their son with life-saving heart surgery when a group from a neighboring country posed as a charity took their cash and fled the country, leaving Hamma to die and the family to suffer in financial ruin. Understandably, this made Hamma’s family considerably gun shy when we started talking to them about our family participation requirement and our desire to create local solutions to local problems.
Will they take our money, too? Can they be trusted? What’s to become of us if we risk it again and this time lose our son?
Thankfully, they took the risk… and today they are reaping the joy! Hamma is out of ICU and back in his room. And - of equal importance - Hamma’s family has come to understand that we love them, as they are, for who they are; that we are not out to get them but be friends with them.
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Isn’t it amazing to watch life-saving in progress? We are able to do this because thousands of people like you have given $10, $25, and $50 - or whatever they could - to impact the future of kids in Iraq. |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Hamma is Extubated in ICU, Doing Extremely Well
January 9, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
When we walked into the Cardiovascular Intensive Care unit one-year-old Hamma was crying - if you could call it crying - with little whimpers; the biggest sounds he could muster up now that the tubes have been taken out of his lungs. The stress placed on the lungs during an open heart surgery is extreme. So the hours and days after surgery are usually filled with a lot of coughing and it usually takes a while for one’s voice - or cry - to come back to full strength.
Still, after a full bottle, Hamma was so satisfied - even smiling involuntarily, like his stomach didn’t care what the rest of his body was going through!
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Part of how we are able to do this is owing to those who have committed to $25, $50, or $150 monthly sponsorships to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Could you reorganize any current spending to see more kids on here? How about becoming a monthly sponsor today? |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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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