So yeah, the pacemaker replacement was done this week. Procedurally, everything went smoothly and I got to come home just a few hours after everything was done, and I have plenty of pain meds to take for the next week.

But this whole trip was a bit of a nightmare. It was cold and overcast the entire time we were there, and hospitals are already bloody cold on the inside, so at the end of the first day (which included insane amounts of waiting), I was frozen solid and very sore from the uncomfortable chairs. Then the next day we had to come in early because someone in the lab screwed up and didn't do a vital test. And then we were told that an emergency case came up, so the operation was bumped to Friday, so for an extra day I had to sit around and wait (at least the hotel had ION and I was able to catch the Thursday NUMB3RS marathon).

All of this, staying at a hotel, the stress... I won't have to get this done again for a few years, but in that time we've vowed to grease the wheels of being able to arrange the operation be done down here so we don't have to make the trip so far from home again.