Taking the Scenic Route

My SIL has a pacemaker, due to a surgical mistake when she had to have a heart defect repaired in her late teens/early 20s.  The last year or so she has been having some problems and was told that the pacemaker battery was dying and was originally told that they would have to crack her chest open to change the battery (or replace the pacemaker to a more modern one).  Besides the obvious discomfort of that, she is so prone to infection and has been in surgery so many times that there was a genuine fear she would not make it out of the hospital if that came to pass.

She got a new Pediatric Cardiologist in KC who gave her the good news that he could accomplish the same surgery without cracking the ribcage, just a small incision.  Great News!  Earlier this week she went up to KC for her pre-op appointment and testing, expecting to have surgery soon.  However, the cardiologist discovered that her pacemaker was actually fine.  The problems she was having that everybody thought was the pacemaker is actually the pacemaker reacting to something her heart is doing. 

She has been sent home and is on some sort of monitor all the time so that it can record any cardiac events to try and pinpoint the problem.  She has to wear it until they get a reading that gives them a better idea of what is going on.  Nobody really knows right now if this is something that is manageable with a medication change, or whether it is another surgical fix, or if it is fixable at this point. 

It is pretty scary, she is having more than just fatigue, and is actually either passed out, or come close to it a few times (not sure if she totally lost conciousness, but I think it is close if not).  She is so young.  This is SO not fair.

Prayers are welcome.