Maddie‘s pacemaker operation went as expected and smoothly this morning… we even had some unexpected surprises!  She was intubated with a breathing tube for the procedure.  Although the doctors had mentioned she might need to stay intubated for the day and maybe even for a night, she was a champ and was extubated before she even came back up to her room and has had no respiratory issues.  After the operation, her heartblock (which started after taking out the chest tubes on Sunday) has also gone away for the most part.  The pacemaker still occasionally kicks in, but that was the purpose of the operation since she may sometimes need it.  The positive thing with her not needing the pacemaker all the time is that the life of the generator will be longer.