Another surgery...

For those of you that have asked about what happened, here's the whole story:
About a week and a half ago, Jason was having a rough night. He could feel his heart pounding hard and fast and he was really tired and winded. Karyn tried to take his pulse and was unable to get an accurate read. It was obvious something was wrong.
Jason has a cool device called a CareLink that enables him to transmit via a phone line to his cardiologists' office. We hooked him up to his CareLink and transmitted. The next day he got a phone call from one of his doctors, who told him that the generator in his pacemaker was dying. No big deal, right?
We went to see his doctor and were informed that not only was his generator was in fact dying, but also that his atrial flutter had come back. And with a bit of a vengeance. He had one episode that lasted 31 hours. Ugh. We had really been hoping we were past all this.
While we were talking with his doctor, we brought up the possibility of replacing Jason's leads when they replaced his pacemaker. His leads were recalled in October 2007 due to a significant risk of fracture, which could lead to erratic, inappropriate shocks, heart attack, or even death. (Lovely, huh?) His doctor informed us there were also risks associated with removing the leads. Apparently that could also possibly lead to death. He told us it was Jason's choice whether the leads were left in place or extracted. Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place...
Jason and I did a LOT of research about his leads. Since they were first manufactured in 2004, there have been 13 deaths related to the malfunction and fracture of these specific leads. There were hundreds of horror stories from people all over the US who had these leads. However, there were also horror stories from people who had had the leads extracted. Doing so could cause a major blood vessel to rupture, or even damage to the heart muscle itself.
After much deliberation and a beautiful blessing from my dad, Jason chose to have the leads extracted. He and I both felt confident in his surgeon's abilities to remove the leads without causing unnecessary damage.
So on Thursday I took Jason to IMC and he was wheeled away to have his "little" procedure.
After a mere two hours he was in recovery. Everything had gone well! I was so relieved to hear there had been no complications. Turns out that the leads he had in there were on the brink of fracture, and they were misreading by a huge margin. I guess we made the right decision after all!
On Friday Jason came home (and not a moment too soon.) He is recovering well, although he is in a lot of pain. We are so grateful for the prayers and faith of so many. It couldn't have gone better!
Now we just need to cross our fingers that the atrial flutter will magically disappear on its own. Hey, a girl can hope right?

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn!!

Emslee's first Halloween was so much fun! She got her adorable costume from my sweet Aunt Candy, and I know I may be a little biased but I think she's the cutest giraffe I've ever seen!
We took her trick or treating to my parents' house and Jason's parents' house. We also took her up to the nursing home in Preston to visit my surrogate grandma, Alice. She was so excited that we came to visit! She kept commenting on what a cute baby Emee is. What can I say? Even at 93, our little Alice still tells it like it is. :)
Emslee got a tootsie pop from her pseudo trick-or-treating, and my mom was dying to let her suck on it. I, of course, was not nearly as enthusiastic. We let her suck on it with the wrapper on (I know, I'm a mean mom), and then once it was dripping with slober I threw it away. I'm sure she'll have plenty of candy in years to come to make up for it! What a fun day!