Highlights From Our Remedy Mission XVI
April 2, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

Today is the last day of our Remedy Mission here in Najaf!
We still have a full day’s work before we head home tomorrow, but here are some highlights as we wrap up Remedy Mission XVI.
—Getting to meet Hama, Kadeeja, Musa, Ali, Diya, Shakir, Mohammed, Noor, Zainab, Zahara, Mahdi, and Yousef. All twelve of those children received lifesaving operations this trip!
—Watching one of our local heart surgeons completely correct a heart defect – without any help!
—Witnessing our cardiologists screen close to 200 more children.
—Sitting down with the local medical team to talk about longterm development and the training they want to receive this next year.
—Being overwhelmed by the gratitude and joy expressed by all the families of those we served this mission.
Thank you so much for making this mission possible.
I’ve said this before, but we haven’t provided a single heart surgery in Iraq apart from the support and generosity of others.
You give; a child is saved; peace is waged. It’s a cycle we can’t continue without you, so thank you!
As soon as I leave here, we’ll start preparing for two more Remedy Missions this month in the cities of Fallujah and Tikrit.
You can be a part of the community that makes those operations possible by donating a few dollars below.
Peace from Najaf.
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Hama Is On His Way Home (Finally!)
March 30, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

This afternoon, Hama gets to pack his bags and walk out of the hospital with a fixed heart.
He gets to leave behind the surgeons, the nurses, and the heart defect that almost took his life. Now he gets to go home with his mom and dad, breathe a little bit easier, and start to experience life without a heart defect.
Hama’s dad said it best when he emphatically said, “thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Thank you helping save Hama’s life.
There hasn’t been one heart surgery in Iraq that didn’t have the backing of others.
You continue to make all the difference for these children.
Meanwhile, the operating team hasn’t slowed down. They’ve already saved 9 lives and they’re hoping to save another 3 more before we wrap up the mission!
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I’ve Never Been So Excited To Not See Hama!
March 26, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

I walked into the ICU today to check on Hama but he wasn’t there. This is great news!
On my way to the hospital this morning, Hama was having his wires, tubes, and IV’s removed because he was given the green light to leave the ICU.
By the time I arrived, he was already upstairs in the hospital ward.
Walking into his room was a welcomed change of pace for everybody. The room wasn’t full of monitors and rusty oxygen tanks. It didn’t even have any nurses in it. It was just him and his mom and Tom & Jerry on the television.
The things we got to talk about today are completely different than before. Instead of talking about the operation and the risks involved, now we’re talking about what lies ahead. Things like when he can play soccer again, when he can swim, and when the scar will be his only memory of his heart defect.
These are the best conversations to be a part of.
Thanks for showing your support for Hama. He’s almost home!
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Is There Room For Failure In Development?
March 23, 2013 by Cody · 2 Comments

You know that old Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”?
It’s true. In fact, I remind myself of this on a weekly basis. It’s an ethos that defines and directs our vision for Iraq.
And that’s why none of us will say our jobs are easy.
If we’ve ever made these lifesaving heart surgeries and our vision of developing heart centers across the country look easy—it’s not. In fact, it’s the most challenging vision we’ve ever tied ourselves to.
I love fishing but teaching a man how to fish isn’t the same as teaching a man how to delicately correct a heart defect, and throwing another fish in the boat isn’t the same as helping a sick child recover in the ICU.
But the principle holds fast—if all we do is provide lifesaving heart surgeries, our impact is immediate and measurable. If we teach locals how to provide these lifesaving surgeries, our impact is enduring and immeasurable.
Just providing lifesaving heart surgeries would be much easier for us as an organization. It would take a huge burden off of our minds and souls each week. We would succeed a lot more at our work. We certainly wouldn’t fear failure as much.
The only problem is that it’s too small of a vision. There’s a greater vision out there for Iraq, but it involves a whole lot of risk, sweat, and the possibility of setbacks and failure.
If we’re going to fail at something, we want it to be something worth failing for.
Every child in Iraq deserves to be within a day’s drive of a lifesaving heart surgery, and we think that’s worth going toe-to-toe with setbacks and failure.
Why am I talking about this?
Because it’s something I’m dealing with right now on this Remedy Mission.
There have been five lifesaving heart surgeries so far—which is great!
But, remember? It’s not all about surgeries. It’s about teaching and developing a local healthcare system that can do this all on their own one day. And, honestly, that vision has had a lot of setbacks this mission.
Mistakes have been made. Things have had to be taught again. We’ve taken a step back in some areas and in other areas we’ve had to go back to the very beginning.
It’s just an occasional reality in development, and it’s the reality right now for our work in this heart center.
But we press on. We teach it again. We go back to the beginning and retrace our steps.
We’ll wake up tomorrow, grab our fishing poles, and get back to teaching because, some days, it’s just a tough day fishing.
So what visions are you backing right now? Are they too small but guarantee success every time? Or are they big and worthy enough to take risks and face setbacks for?
Is there a place for failure and setback in development work?
I hope so. If anybody tells or tries to show you different, I would question their vision.
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Why Dads Are Whispering in the ICU
March 21, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

Iraq is loud.
Even in the hospital the noise is overwhelming at times. Cars are honking outside, trying to make their way out or into the already overcrowded parking lot. Rusted oxygen tanks are being rolled down the ward to replenish the cache in the ICU. Hospital gurneys are clamoring their way down the ward, bumping into food carts and abandoned wheelchairs.
Sometimes the best way to communicate is by overpowering all the noise, and, sometimes, it just takes a whisper.
I walked into the ICU today to see this little boy with his daddy. Dr. Sanchez was screening him while his big eyes were glued to the image of his heart pulsing on the echo machine; his dad leaned over the bed whispering words into his ear.
Because of the noise, I can’t tell you what he was saying but I can tell you that it made all the difference for his son.
If this were your son, what would you be whispering in his ear?
What would you tell these kids as they wait to hear if their heart defect is fixable or not?
Let us know—we’ll pass it on!
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Hama Is Looking Up!
March 18, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

Hama made it through those first crucial hours in the ICU.
The correction made on his heart continues to hold fast as the rest of his body adjusts to a fully-functioning heart. In between surgeries today, Hama’s dad came into our break room to say “thank you, thank you, thank you!”
These next 8 years will look completely different for Hama and his family. No more searching, no more waiting—just a whole lot of living.
Now, we just need to get him well enough to leave the ICU.
Thanks to all of you who are showing you support for Hama by sharing his story on Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail. Keep it up, his story isn’t over!
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Hama Made It Out Of The O.R. And He’s Doing Well
March 14, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

It took the surgeons five and a half hours, but they were able to completely correct Hama’s heart defect.
Did you catch that? It was a complete correction; an absolute victory; a complete undoing of a previously life-threatening heart defect. This is as sweet as it gets in the operating room!
Hama was rushed out of the operating room just as quickly as he was rushed in. Now his battle moves from an operating table to an intensive care bed.
The entire medical team is gathered around Hama, monitoring his heart and ready to help his body adjust to a fully-functioning heart. His heart defect may not exist anymore, but how his body responds to the operation will determine everything.
As he gets settled into the ICU, I should know more about how he’s doing. These next few hours are crucial for him.
Stay tuned…
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We Can Fix Hama’s Heart
March 13, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

“We can fix Hama’s Heart.”
That has to be the best thing I’ve heard all mission.
But for Hama’s parents, that’s the best thing they’ve heard in 8 years. That’s how long they’ve been waiting to find someone who could and would fix Hama’s heart defect.
What they’ve heard these past 8 years have been statements like:
“We don’t know how to fix this.”
“The only way you can save Hama is if you leave Iraq.”
“Even if we knew how to save him, there are hundreds waiting in front of him for this same surgery.”
“I’m sorry.”
Being able to watch 8 year-old Hama get carried into the operating room was nothing short of exhilarating for me.
But watching their son being carried into the O.R. isn’t what Hama’s parents have waited 8 years for. No, they’ve waited 8 years for their child to be carried out of the O.R.—without a heart defect.
Hamma’s 8 year wait for a surgery is over. But it’s what comes after the operation that everybody’s on pins and needles for.
Stay tuned, Hama is in surgery now.
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So You Want To Take On One Of The Leading Causes of Death in Iraq?
March 9, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

Congenital heart defects are one of the leading causes of deaths for children in Iraq.
So when you confront it head on, you better be ready for what comes next.
When we put the International Children’s Heart Foundation medical team back on the ground, the press releases go out, the radio and T.V. stations announce their arrival, and hundreds of families in the city rush to make sure that their child is at the top of the list.
The first thing we do is screen each child. But then more come. And then more. And then so many people that you can’t even get through the crowd to see the child being screened.

Siblings take turns standing in line. The dads and moms show up before our team has even woken up. Some even bring their own mats so they can sleep in the waiting room.
And so we keep screening. Because each echo means that child is one step closer to receiving the treatment that need.
Thanks for bringing us back to Najaf. There’s still so much more work to do!
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We’re Launching Remedy XVI (And I’m Nervous)
March 7, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment

I woke up in Najaf today.
It’s been months since I’ve been able to launch a Remedy Mission in Iraq.
After being in the states to welcome my little girl into the world, my wife and I made our way back to Iraq in January, just missing the Fallujah mission.
Now, it’s my chance again. And I have the jitters.
Having a baby does all sorts of odd things to your emotions, or at least it did for mine. It created space where I thought I had no more room. Space for those fatherly instincts to kick in; space for a new, maybe deeper kind of love and the ability to tangibly experience emotions in ways that have been entirely foreign to me before.
I knew it was coming. A friend wrote and gave me a heads up and he was spot-on.
And that’s why I have the jitters. As I kick off this Remedy Mission, I know I’m going to see dozens of babies fighting for their lives—babies just like mine. I’m going to see 5 year-olds and 12 year-olds who have waited their entire lives for a chance at a lifesaving heart surgery and honestly, I’d rather not see them. I’d rather look the other way and block it all out so that I don’t have to imagine what their parent’s are going through. I don’t want to see their sons poked and prodded with needles or their daughters have to say goodbye before surgery.
I’ve done it all before but this time things seem more real to me, and I think it’s going to hurt.
But I know I can’t have it both ways.
I can’t block out the pain, the fear, and the uncertainty of heart defects and the risky operations that can fix them and still expect to experience all of the hope, the victories, and the sheer joy that this mission has in store for those that will be saved.
So, I’m showing up and I’m going to embrace it all.
I’ll hold the babies. I’ll play soccer with the 5 and 12 year-olds and I’ll listen to their parents talk about what it’s like to have a child with a heart defect. I’ll do my best to take their minds off the needles and remind them that this isn’t goodbye.
And it may sting more than usual. It may be uncomfortable and I’ll feel way too vulnerable as a dad.
But it’s only by standing alongside them now, in these moments, that we can experience the full measure of joy that comes with a chance for their children to win and for their heart defects to lose.
We’ll see hundreds of children with heart defects these two weeks, and the medical team will be able to save just under twenty of them. That’s why we train and that’s why we’ll come right back and do this all over again. And that’s why I have to embrace it all—because it’s through embracing the ‘otherness’ of pain in someone different from me that I learn—that we learn—to press on and overcome together.
Let’s get to it. Stay tuned…Remedy Mission XVI is underway.
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