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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.
Meet Muhammed (Twitter: @MuhammedAdnan)
February 24, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Muhammed’s presence in our life is a testament to the way the Preemptive Love Family Services Team has lived out our Core Values - namely, our pursuit of excellence (or constant improvement) and the way we seek to provide whole solutions for whole people. But all that sounds a little vague, so let me break it down…
In February 2009 a Kurdish soldier knocked on the door of our office. Though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I was sure I was about to be hauled in to give an account for something ridiculous. Thankfully, I was wrong. His name was Hywa and his daughter needed a life-saving surgery…. very urgently. We fast-tracked his family to surgery, but unfortunately he had already missed the optimal surgery window for his daughter when he first appealed to us. His little baby died in March 2009.
But Hywa and I formed a friendship that was somehow wrapped up in our mutual efforts to save his child’s life. When we put Honyar on that plane to Istanbul there was an initial feeling that we had both succeeded. And as I stayed back with him in Iraq, we cried together, somehow feeling like we had both failed that day she died. Of course, it was not the same grief for me as it was for him, and I would dishonor him to imply otherwise. But we celebrated, mourned, and grew together.
A few months later Hywa referred his friend Sami to us because Sami’s boy Danar was dying from a similar heart defect. We sent Danar to surgery in January 2010 and Danar can be seen doing really well after his surgery in our video of follow-up echos a few days ago.
After Danar returned from surgery, his father, Sami, referred Adnan to us because Adnan’s son is similarly facing death from extremely high pressure in his lungs as a result of two large holes in his heart.
Call it the “butterfly effect” or “serendipity” or “Providence” or a “job well done.” I’m really proud of our Family Services Team and all the work they’ve done to leave a lasting impact on families like Hywa, Sami, and… hopefully… little Muhammed’s family.
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.
*In accordance with PLC’s desire to lend a hand-up by avoiding strict hand-outs (when possible), Muhammed’s family told us they would sell their car to help their son and ultimately gave $6,500 towards PLC’s highly-discounted surgery prices.
Meet Soma Salah (Twitter: @SomaSalah)
January 6, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
It’s hard to know what to say about Soma - there is so much to tell. She’s from a village in Iraq that was utterly destroyed by Saddam Hussein. Her father was tortured by Saddam’s Ba’athist regime by electric shock and now suffers neurological difficulties as a result. And to complicate it all, after losing a child on the second day of birth, Soma’s parents learned when Soma was just a few days old that she was born with a congenital heart disease.
We’re taking her to Istanbul, Turkey for what we hope will be a life-saving heart surgery.
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Special thanks to the college students of FWCM.org for their phenomenal $14,800+ two week fundraising campaign for Soma and one other child. Your passion and effectiveness in fundraising is a testament to the faith, values and lifestyle you profess. We’re looking for 12 other houses of worship, schools, and clubs to partner with us in 2010. Click here for more on our Fifty Family Focus. |
Follow baby Soma on Twitter: @SomaSalah. Subscribe to Soma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Soma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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*In accordance with PLC’s desire to lend a hand-up by avoiding strict hand-outs (when possible), Soma’s family - though living in the poorest area we’ve ever seen in Iraq - was able to work with local government and family to provide $3,500 towards PLC’s highly-discounted surgery prices. |
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Meet Mazyar
July 20, 2009 by Jessica · Leave a Comment
Mazyar is a cute little three year old boy from the city in Iraq where PLC has our office. Like many of the children we know about, Mazyar’s condition is very complicated. He received an operation last year in Tehran, but it was only stage one of a full-correction. PLC is coming alongside his family in this second surgery in as many years to help Mazyar receive the full correction - and hopefully the full life - that every parent wants for their child.
Mazyar also has a cleft lip. We have made inquiries into charitable surgical options for him while in Turkey, but as yet we have not made any definitive plans for a cleft correction.
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.
NOTE: In accordance with PLC’s desire to lend a hand-up by avoiding strict hand-outs (when possible), Mazyar’s family has funded approximately $2,500 of PLC’s highly-discounted surgery price themselves.
Lawen is Receiving Life Now!
June 1, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
I just walked 16-year-old Lawen down to her cardiac catheterization procedure, where she is receiving an umbrella-like closure device inserted through the artery in her thigh to close a .55 inch hole in her atrium. This will allow her to finish school, go to college, one day marry, have kids, and grow well into adulthood.
Thanks for all of you who have contributed so graciously to Lawen’s surgery!
Lawen to Receive ♥ Correction with Umbrella Device via Thigh
May 31, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We ordered an $8,000 corrective [umbrella] device and Lawen will receive her repair on Sunday night or Monday morning.
Roman is Doing Amazing & Out of ICU with his Mother
May 28, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
This is a picture of Roman after surgery. This little two year old was rushed into our group at the last minute due to what the Iraqi doctors understood to be the urgency of his condition.
Just these few days later and he has been released from ICU and is playing with cars in his room, watching TV, eating soup, and doing wonderfully!
Photo: Matt Addington
Ahmad Out of Surgery! No More Blue Skin! All is Pink & Healthy!
February 17, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Ahmed is out of surgery. His oxygen levels are already up by 25%. His future is hopefully less blue and a more healthy pink. His dad is crying tears of joy.
Dr. Çiçek at the Anadolu Sağlik Merkezi was clear that this is not a long-term, fully corrective solution; but this first surgery should allow him to finally live long enough to receive the staged surgeries he’ll need over the coming years to actually live a fully functional adult life.
We’ll update with more information as soon as we know it.
Follow Ahmad’s daily updates on Twitter or via his RSS feed.
Valentine’s Day Focus: The Great Eight (Ahmad’s Condition)
February 2, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
His great arteries are switched around and in the wrong places. He has two holes in the wall of his ventricle, a hole in the wall of his atrium. Effectively, his heart is a big balloon without properly functioning walls and chambers like yours.
This alone results in exhaustion, frequent fainting, and the blue discoloration in his lips, hands, and feet from a lack of oxygen.
You remember oxygen? That stuff that we pretty much need to live. Ahmad needs it too, but his body cannot process it correctly due to the holes in his little heart.
You can follow Ahmad’s progress on Twitter (twitter.com/ahmadbakhtiyar) or via RSS.
Giant Need
See Ahmad’s campaign page on our website to make a contribution to his surgery.
Small Voice
His brown-booted feet hung limply from the chair. Most children wouldn’t be able to resist swinging their suspended legs back and forth in the quiet room surrounded by the seven dwarfs’ familiar faces, the Kurdish curls presumably spelling the names of Dopey and Sneezy and the rest, scattered among painted forest animals on all four walls of Dr. Aso’s combined office, waiting room and examination room. When the doctor was ready, the practiced hands of his mother removed his jacket from his tiny body, his boots from little clubbed blue feet which matched his hands, tormented eyes watching her above his oxygen deprived lips the shade of blueberries.
The doctor’s eyes widened and his brow furrowed as he looked at the Echo, turned to us and said, “This is a very serious case.” When we asked if he was inoperable the doctor shook his head and simply said again, “It is a very serious case…. I don’t know.” Whether she understood English or not Ahmad’s mother read all our expressions easily. She tipped her head to the heavens, possibly to pray, and more practically to give her eyes the opportunity to swallow the tears threatening to escape.
After the picture we snapped of him standing in front of a Kurdish Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, he hid his little face in his mother’s leg and wiped tears from his eyes…
Liz searched her purse for the third time looking desperately for something to give this poor child. She hoped a matchbox car or at least some stickers had magically appeared since she’d last checked, but her hands came up empty again. Her mind slowly absorbed the fact that even if a toy might have brought a temporary smile to his sad eyes, it would do nothing for his frail body. Instead she prayed for the Turkish doctor who will soon undergo the difficult task of setting to rights all that is wrong in Ahmad’s little Iraqi frame.
We’d like to ask you to be a part of Ahmad’s transformation. Of course, these are hard times. But if you can, please consider sacrificing that Ahmad might live.
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