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Ahmed’s Surgery a Complete Success; Heart Stronger Than Ever Thanks to You!
August 21, 2010 by Cody · Leave a Comment
Ahmed is prepared for surgery with our visiting cardiologist, Dr. Sri Rao of the International Children’s Heart Foundation. Photo by Heber Vega
Ahmed’s 5 year battle to obtain his much-needed heart surgery is now a thing of the past after a 5.5 hour surgery that successfully corrected all five major heart defects! He’s now resting in ICU with his uncle who hasn’t left his side since his parents were seriously injured in a car crash this past week. If you haven’t read Ahmed’s story be sure to read it here.
We’ve all fallen in love with Ahmed, there’s no denying it. Today our joy is through the roof as we celebrate Ahmed’s life and the good news that both of his parents are recovering with him a few hours away in their home city!
Ahmed’s heart can now give his body everything it needs to run, jump, and shout for joy, thanks to you!
It’s always an exciting journey to the hospital each morning to see our kids. But tomorrow morning the trip is going to be special.
We can’t wait to see our friend, Ahmed.
With you,
Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future. If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #Remedy or #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove and @babyheart_org. If you’re on Facebook, “Share” this story with the button below.
Which Photo Do You Think is Cutest? We Could Not Choose.
August 21, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Play time helps the long hours waiting for heart surgery go faster.
One of the things we are committed to as the Preemptive Love Coalition is our Family Services Program. We do more than fund heart surgeries; we invest our lives in the families we serve. We typically spend months with a family after identifying their child and selecting him or her for surgery. We are on the ground in Istanbul, Turkey when children arrive for heart surgery. We are Americans living in Iraq, in the hospitals with moms and dads during the long, confusing hours leading up to surgery. And we are in the homes of most of our children for six months after surgery to ensure proper followthrough, post-operative check ups, etc. Somewhere along the way, we start talking about “those kids” as “our kids.” And that’s when everything changes.
Mohammad Fwad is one of our kids. He didn’t just show up at the hospital after the TV station announced the beginning of our Remedy Mission like hundreds others we had never met. He was on our list and we have been in his home for months.
He’s one of ours… he is one of yours! He is scheduled for surgery on Sunday. Please stay tuned…!
With you,
Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future. If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #Remedy or #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove and @babyheart_org. If you’re on Facebook, “Share” this story with the button below.
Ahmed’s 5 Hour Surgery Is In Progress!
August 20, 2010 by Cody · Leave a Comment
Photo by Jon Vidar
[ CLICK HERE TO READ IN ARABIC ]
Ahmed spent his last two days waiting patiently for his surgery, playing with film-maker Ricky Norris, racing around the hospital floor on top of the hospital rolley-carts, and watching cartoons on Heber Vega’s laptop.
You may recall that Ahmed’s parents were in a tragic car accident on their way to our Remedy Mission just a few days ago. His uncle actually ensured that Ahmed made it here and did not miss his chance at life. If you haven’t read Ahmed’s story be sure to read it here!
We received the great news from his uncle that Ahmed’s parents are improving but still in the hospital in Nasariya. They called repeatedly today to speak with their son and remind him of how much they love him. We feel the same way!
Photo by Heber Vega
Ahmed is now in the 3rd hour of his surgery and it’s expected to last 2 more hours. It is also after midnight here in Iraq! Who does surgery after midnight? We are so grateful to Dr. William Novick and his team from the International Children’s Heart Foundation. Ahmed’s case is one of the most complicated the doctors have seen this week so they’ve committed their entire night to making the corrections Ahmed’s heart needs to keep up with this little boy who clearly loves to be active!
Are you a friend on Facebook (<-- click) or Twitter (<--click)? That's the most real-time way to keep up with news from Remedy Mission in Iraq.
With you,
Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future. If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #Remedy or #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove and @babyheart_org. If you’re on Facebook, “Share” this story with the button below.
There is a Tribal Leader from Basra Talking about You
August 19, 2010 by Cody · Leave a Comment
Photo by Heber Vega
[ CLICK HERE TO READ IN ARABIC ]
People often ask us if we’re doctors.
During the day we may be in scrubs going from bed to bed in the Intensive Care Unit checking on our kids. Other times we might be in the operating room learning more about congenital heart defects. But the obvious answer is “no” - we most definitely are not doctors. We don’t know how operate a heart-and-lung bypass machine and we don’t know how to repair a broken heart.
What we do know how to do - and what we’re constantly striving to do better - is love.
While the doctors are upstairs in the operating room masterfully mending our kids’ hearts, we’re downstairs right below them being made strong by the waiting families.
Today, I was made stronger by a sheikh from Basra who drove over 600 miles to have his grandson, Hussein, operated on through our Remedy Mission. We talked about our home towns, our families, and our work. He told me about Basra and the incredible history behind it. He told me what he loved about it and how strong and full of hope the people still are. To be honest, all I had ever known of his home was what I saw on television.
Photo by Heber Vega
Laying right next to the Sheikh was his grandson with a newly repaired heart, thanks to you.
So I told him about you. I told him what you’re standing for by supporting Remedy Mission and how we aren’t just out to mend physical hearts; we’re out to mend whole communities and reconcile people in conflict. We talked about ways to take steps towards creating postures of preemptive love in Basra and across Iraq. We talked about peace and what it will be like one day to have no more heart disease or war. We both longed for that day today.
At the end of our time he smiled and told me that he is the sheikh and head leader of his entire tribe in Basra. Thousands are under his leadership. He said, “When I am sad, my people are sad. When I am happy, they are happy. Because of today, I am going back to Basra happy. I am going back bringing a message of peace.”
On behalf of all of us at Preemptive Love, thank you for changing the life of a sheikh in Basra and for helping save the life of his grandson, whom he dearly loves. Today, he called you “messengers of peace”. We just thought you should know!
With you,
Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future. If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #Remedy or #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove and @babyheart_org. If you’re on Facebook, “Share” this story with the button below.
Rozha’s Smile Lights Up the Room 24 Hours After Surgery
August 18, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Less than 24 hours after surgery Rozha is up walking around and discharged from ICU!
http://preemptivelove.org/blog/
#RemedyMission Trailer
August 15, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
There is no sound on this video… but you will hear the impact of your giving loud and clear by the end of next week.
Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future.
If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #Remedy or #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove and @babyheart_org.
The Sheikh’s Smile
July 6, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We have a good friend in Iraq who is a sheikh — a teacher of Islam and official religious cleric from Baghdad. He’s probably not what you think of when you think “Muslim cleric in Baghdad,” and his smile has left an indelible mark on us during our time in Iraq.
We’ve been working with him for years to send children to lifesaving heart surgeries outside Iraq.
If his smile is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Iraq, we labor so that one day it will be.
For more information about our pursuit of peace between communities at odds, join us Fall 2010 on our Heartmender Tour. Subscribe to our newsletter below:
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Two Weeks Away From Surgery, Leah Continues to Grow and Develop
July 5, 2010 by Esther · Leave a Comment
from Preemptive Love on Vimeo.
In a week and a half Baby Leah goes to surgery!
Those words bring so much joy to my heart because they signify the new life that successful heart surgery will give Leah.
Since the last time that we visited Leah, she has continued to grow and develop – rolling over with ease, bouncing off her mother’s lap, waving at others and attempting to hold herself up on her hands and knees.
This little girl, whose birth defects have threatened to steal her life away, now has the opportunity to have that life transformed because of the combined efforts of Turkish heart surgeons working to restore peace with their set of surgical tools along with the willingness of donors like you.
Leah is one of 4 Iraqi children that will be traveling to Turkey on July 18 for heart surgery because of your involvement and desire to combat the unnecessary deaths of children born with congenital heart disease.
Click HERE to follow Leah Ibrahim on Twitter as she gets ready for surgery.
Photo of the Day
July 5, 2010 by Lydia · Leave a Comment
This is the outside of a pharmacy here in Iraq, I love how beautiful the script is! They are so different from pharmacies in the US but just as necessary.
Baroof’s Scar Stands Against Kurdish Terror and Turkish Oppression
July 4, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
The photo above tells the story of an extremely different child than the one we met in March right before boarding a plane to Istanbul, Turkey. Three months ago Baroof received a rare and complicated surgery for his age - a surgery that ultimately has spared his life and ushered in a new season of joy and obvious strength.
But basking in this season of salvation isn’t quite as easy as it might be for other children in other places. Baroof’s family lives on the Iraq - Turkey border, where for years Kurdish separatist rebels (members of the Kurdish Worker’s Party or the PKK) have been mounting attacks against the Turkish government in pursuit of an independent Kurdish nation. In response to the PKK’s terrorizing of Turkish civilians and military personnel, the Turkish government often responds with a blunted hammer where a precision tool might have been more effective.
The activities of the PKK claim to be a response to Turkish oppression. And Turkish heavy-handedness claims to be a response to Kurdish terrorism. And thus, the cycle continues.
Because of this cycle, Baroof and his family have grown up with a relatively monochromatic view of Turks and Turkey – such as “Turks are the oppressors who kill our Kurdish cousins in Turkey and cross international borders into Iraq to kill our family here as well” or something similar.
In March, we helped throw a splash of color on that single story. What was once a black and white issue has been somewhat mitigated by the kind actions of Turkish doctors who give generously of themselves and their skills to serve children like Baroof. The kindness was not lost on Baroof or his family. Now back in Iraq after surgery, they express their gratitude to Kurds around them for the Turks who saved their son’s life, thereby pushing back a single story about Turkish oppression and easy justifications of Kurdish rebellion.
Some of Baroof’s tribal members and distant cousins have died at the hands of the Turkish military. Others likely bare the scars of near-misses and raids gone wrong. But Baroof’s scar is a line of love from your heart, through Istanbul, Turkey, all the way to the border of Turkey and Iraq.
Your financial gifts have enabled Turkish surgeons to write new language into the region.
Baroof starts school again in September. Because of you, his desk will not sit empty this year. Because of you, his Kurdish friends - who might otherwise be enticed into the ways of PKK terror - will constantly contend with the scar on his chest and the technicolor story it tells.
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