a month later the binghams are back at the hospital to learn more about what s next for sierra. they bring gage along for a pacemaker adjustment. ready for mr. turtle? at the age of 6 he s had a pacemaker for three years now. doctors have discovered some abnormal beats they want to watch closely. sure seeing what s going on on the inside. all we see on the outside, he s as energetic and active as a kid can be. that s good to hear. that s great to hear. i m glad you re checking the inside because we re always checking the outside. if he starts showing symptoms, then we re way too late in finding problems. the doctors have told the binghams that gage too will likely need a heart transplant one day. sierra was about gage s age when she had her first heart transplant. and now that she s 15 she has a say in her own health care, can even say no if she decides she doesn t want a second transplant. she s asked her parents not to keep any secrets from her about what s ahead, no
to tenth grade. we want to give sierra a nice long normal life. and so sierra goes back on the transplant waiting list. but the doctors warn the wait could be much longer this time, as long as two years. and because of her condition, an artificial heart pump is not an option. while lindsey s and gage s heart failure affected the heart s ability to squeeze, sierra s problem is they at her heart doesn t fully relax, a function that s just as important. as difficult as the news is to hear, in typical bingham form stacy finds a bright side. we re grateful for the breaks we get. the home breaks. i guess it s go home and get that breath of fresh air before the next thing hits. i think their strength comes from being a family. they re going through it together. and for what it s worth, if you re going through something terrible it s always great to go through it with people who love and support you. truly. and i think this family does this better than any other family i know.
rents run from $6,000 to $10,000 a month. but packing seven people into one room and two beds is a challenge. especially now that their three daughters are all teenagers. teenagers, we like to have our space, and it s hard to do that when everybody sleeps in the same room and it s yes, it s very difficult at times. sierra is driving, works in an ice cream parlor. lindsey is in seventh grade now. it s been nearly five years since she received her donor heart. i m feeling great. and gage is, well, gage. the family clown happy to show off his fancy equipment. it goes up. you can feel it under my ribs. and then comes right here. that s why the scar is right here. so i hope you learned much and have a great day.
like we just can t be normal for once. we don t know what we re doing. we re just winging it. let s be honest here. we re just winging it. jason and stacy have been warned that gage could come out of surgery with two artificial heart pumps, one to support each side of his failing heart. the surgeons will make the call when they see the condition of his heart during the operation. stacy finds some comfort in the memories of their all too brief time at home together between the surgeries. even though we got to go home for maybe two months, it was just two months we could just treasure every day, and i guarantee we treasured every day. surgeons implant the device called heartware to support the left side of gage s heart. this is the part that s going inside the heart, and then basically there is a rotor inside this device. and then basically this device suck the blood from inside of
barbecue. in checking gage s pacemaker, doctors have discovered gage has had two episodes in the night where his heart flutters rather than beats. either one of them could have been fatal. his heart failure is worsening. and so in addition to the pacemaker he already has he ll need to have a defibrillator implanted to shock his heart back into rhythm if it flutters again. we ve seen what happens. and maybe we know too much. yeah. i m ready to go home a little bit and not stay here for a year or two. as good as he s doing, i ve just got to prepare myself that things could change. so. jason and stacy have had no time to recover from sierra s transplant, no time to recharge before this next crisis. they re emotionally exhausted. give him a good kiss. this is a good time.