Holiday dilemma

[elwoodblues]

I am new here and a little nervous. I don't have a date for my ablation yet, but it should be soon. So, i haven't booked my holiday as I am waiting to see how I feel afterwards, and if I am allowed to fly. Starting to wonder if I got it wrong and should have had my holiday first?

[BobD Volunteer]

Well you would not have got insurance if waiting for procedure so probably wise move.

[elwoodblues in reply to BobD]

Thank you for that, I had forgotten how much information you have to give for insurance. Well we will have to wait and see.

[Paulbounce in reply to elwoodblues]

You could try 'All Clear' for travel insurance. The prices are OK and they cover you with afib. Worth a look but check out other quotes online.

The price rockets with a heart problem. At the start of last year, before I was diagnosed, I got world wide cover (from memory) for about £25 - £26. That excluded (again from memory) Canada and the States. It didn`t bother me as I didn`t plan to visit anyway.

This year came in at the £230 - £300 mark depending on the Insurance company - All Clear were the cheapest. If you do get a quote and you don`t intend to travel just yet, get your quote now. After a month or so they send discount codes with about 20% off

Best,

Paul

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Paulbounce]

Few comopanies will cover you if you are already in the health system for any kind of tests or procedures Paul. They just can't calulate the risk so they decline. Once you have had an ablation, or for that matter diagnosis they are fine with it if possibly expensive . It is the unknown they refuse on especially if you are on a waiting list for anything.

[IanMK in reply to BobD]

Although I think I’m now done with my ablations and I’ve been pacemaker-powered since April, I got the impression that the insurance companies were more concerned about my original heart failure diagnosis and the fact I am still on medications. These won’t be reviewed until my 6 month post-PM check Which is also when my EF will be reassessed.

Looking forward to Gran Canaria in 6 weeks 😎

[Morzine]

I guess you could get the ferry and do a little French / Europe holiday with your E11 card.

Phew insurance is expensive after ablation but there are ones doing it....I had mega trouble as I’m in France but found worldwide travel...they cover post ablation.....

They were questioning though why I’m in tablets still after ablation.....I explained I’m being weaned off as I’m now down to minimal dose, they accepted that. What I would say is be specific when you talk to the insurance online as the call is recorded and so you don’t want that to come back and bite you if you make a claim.

Sue

[elwoodblues in reply to Morzine]

thanks for all your replies - i had to go offline for a while. I will get a quote, just out of curiosity.

[AIW58]

Whether you go before the ablation or not I guess depends on how your AF affects you and how often you get it. I went to Australia last year to visit my daughter before my ablation. I had one episode, not unsurprising as it was a day when we helped her move flats and I overdid it and didn't keep my fluids up. I went to Ireland to visit other daughter about 4 weeks after the ablation and was fine.

My advice is to ring the hospital and ask if they can give you an idea where you are on the list. My EP was happy to accommodate my work commitments so I was able to have mine when it worked best (that was NHS not private). If you are close to the top of the list maybe you could fit in a break before it (check your travel ins. Although if your AF terminates spontaneously and you don't get admitted to hospital in UK, no reason to think you would be worse abroad)

re taking your holiday after the ablation I guess it depends where you want to go and what you want to do. I was fine afterwards but some people take a while to recover so I wouldn't book until you see how you feel.

cheers

Amanda

[elwoodblues]

I think it is too late to go before, I am expecting a date any day now. Also I don't want to have too much time off work. To be honest, I don't feel much like going on holiday anyway, its just the guilt because the rest of the family are waiting as well.

[Hidden]

If you are young enough and healthy enough, you might want to try this first, before going under the knife:

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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt??

Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer