Dear praying friends,
We went to the cardiologist for our semi-annual visit at the beginning of October and already knew that we were in the last 3-6 months before Grace's pacemaker would need to be replaced. The battery life is almost gone so it is time.
We could wait a month or two to get this procedure done but with Jennifer scheduled to have a c-section on November 19th we decided that it would be better to take care of this now before the cold, snowy weather is upon us.
Grace and I will be driving to Minneapolis on October 28th for the pre-op and the surgery will be done the following morning at 8:00 AM. This should be a relatively routine procedure with the one caveat that they will have to replace the lower (ventricular) lead (a "wire" sewn onto the exterior of her heart). Grace's pacemaker is located under her sternum and other than the scar is it not noticeable. This is still the best location to give her complete freedom and mobility without worry.
Later in life they may decide to place it under her pectoral muscle but that would limit repetitive motion with her arm that might cause issues with the wire wearing over time. We want to give her maximum options for her interests and activities. With this location her only concern would be full-contact sports which she would need to avoid. We're not too worried about that anyway.
Please remember us in prayer as we travel and as she undergoes this procedure. She should only be in the hospital for 24 hours if all goes as planned. You can look at the blogs for November 2005 to read about the first time this was done and all the problems we had. Things definitely didn't go well that time but we trust for better situations now.
We should be back in town late on Friday, October 30th.
Continue to pray for Jennifer the baby and our son Alexander as they will not be traveling with Grace and me.
Sincerely,
David Monreal
1 comment:
Hi Dave and Jennifer,
I am Carol Egan's niece and work at Children's Mpls. She mentioned you would be coming with Grace this week. I don't think I'll be working the day Grace has surgery. I let my two partners who are in the PICU that day know you would be coming in. They are both believers as well. Hope all goes well. I'll be in the ICU until noon on Wed, so if you are in town before then, perhaps we could meet.
Mary
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