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Narjis was born in Baghdad, Iraq in October 2016. When she was about two weeks old, her parents Akar and Nor Maseer noticed she was breathing fast. They took her to the doctor and an echocardiogram showed she had two holes in her heart, an atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect. The doctor gave …
Hasen sits in his grandmother’s arms, bored and making a terrible fuss. “He was born with three holes in his heart.” His grandmother tells us what we’ve already seen on the ultrasound scan. She was tired, weary. The strain of life and her grandson’s heart problems are nearly too much to bear. Hasen was supposed …
Leaning in—this is the common posture we see in every hospital where we work. There are always parents leaning in toward their children, either out of concern or the desire to comfort. But just as often we find ourselves leaning in toward patients, providing the acute care they need. Working beside local teams, we lean …
We’ve Made Amazing Progress, And We’ll Lean In To Do Even More In 2017 Read More »
Jobs disappeared. That’s what drove Yaqin’s family from Mosul. It was 2014 and the early days of ISIS in the city. Life was beginning to get difficult—the rules for living changed, tightened, but it was still manageable, except for the fact that paid work became scarce. Yaqin’s father couldn’t support his family, so they made …
She Escaped ISIS, Now She Survived A Life-Threatening Heart Defect Read More »
Every mom’s heart aches when her child is sick. It’s so hard to see them suffer and not know what’s going on, or how to help. For some moms it’s extra hard. When Yossef came down with the flu at two months old, he was taken to see a doctor. The doctor diagnosed not only …
How You Ended A Mother’s Desperate Search For Surgery Read More »
When Falah closes his eyes, he sees himself high above the clouds, in the cockpit of a fighter jet. When he imagines his future self, he is a pilot who helps to defend his country from the forces which seek to destroy. But today Falah is laying in his hospital bed recovering from the surgery …
Before Surgery, Falah Was Falling Behind—Not Anymore Read More »
Sometimes living takes you by surprise. Zahraa was in the step-down unit when we asked what her hopes are for the future. Today is just the first day after her surgery, but she is already well enough to smile at silly jokes. She is relaxed in her bed, and turned down the pain medication our …
She was blue. Well, she was beyond blue actually—purple. We started the day with a little purple baby thrust into our arms. “She doesn’t look very well.” That might be the understatement of the year. Umalbanen was admitted immediately, and examined to see just what was going on. The verdict? She was hours from death. …
Libya is a country in turmoil, with a health care infrastructure that is falling apart. We get criticized sometimes for continuing to go to Libya to perform lifesaving heart surgeries in the midst of the violence and chaos. ‘They need aid’ is what we hear in America, when the topic of Libya comes up. Here …
4 Reasons We Provide Heart Surgeries In A War Zone Read More »
“You’ll never be able to give away heart surgeries to kids around the world, Bill. There’s no money in that.” This is what then-resident Dr. Novick’s faculty adviser told him when he got back from his first heart surgery trip to Honduras. But he had found what he wanted to do with his life, and …
