"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
--Jeremiah 29:11

Monday, August 3, 2015

Upcoming Surgery

Well today was Connie's annual heart check up with Dr. Bromberg.  It was just about the last thing to check off our list of things to do this summer.  And what a summer it was! We were as busy as ever.  Mookie played lots of tennis, including a week away from home in Urbana, Illinois at a tennis camp at the University of Illinois.  She and some friends from school participated in an art camp and a robotics camp in town as well.  She even flew by herself to Chicago for a tennis tournament! Conway had scout camps, VBS and two sleep away camps, including his first year as a "big kid" camper at Camp Rhythm.  He had lots of fun and made new friends to boot! His other big news is that his wish to go to LEGOLAND was granted and we traveled to Orlando right after July 4th for 6 hot, but wonderful days enjoying the theme parks and all that the Give Kids the World Village had to offer. 
Karsten and Frankie are doing well, too.  Kar will be starting kindergarten (primary) and finally gets to go to "Connie's school". Frankie is obsessed with Anna from Frozen and asking (demanding) for things all day long. Oh! I almost forgot.  We moved. Again. It took almost a month from start to finish, but we did it.  Hopefully it is the last time we will move... EVER! Tomorrow I am taking the kids to Dallas for a quick visit with grandparents and cousins before school starts.

Back to the appointment.  Things went great.  He is in the 94th percentile for height and 84th for weight.  All the routine questions and tests were a breeze.  We skipped the echo this time since he'd had one in January.  His pacemaker showed 2.5 years of battery life left.  However, when Dr. Bromberg came in, he shared that the lead issue we'd been following for close to the last two years is finally to a point where it needs to be dealt with.  He had us get a 24 hour holter monitor to track exactly how much his pacer is over sensing and delivering extra beats and skipped beats.  When listening, he hears an increase in the frequency, and the pacemaker interrogation backed that up.  He'll compare the holter results with last year's to be sure, and then consult with the team in Michigan that placed the pacemaker about getting on their surgical schedule to replace the atrial lead wire and the pacemaker battery itself, likely early this fall. It should take a couple weeks before we really know definitively what the plan will be. 

Thanks for checking in! I want to post pictures soon!