Travel Insurance (Cardiomyopathy)

[BobbyN]

Hi all. I posted 4 days ago concerned about Travel Insurance after planned Angiography. I underwent the procedure on Tuesday and can now update.

Nothing untoward was found with my Coronary Arteries so no stents but abnormalities found with the heart muscle and diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. Next stage will be a CMR to diagnose more specifically but Consultant stated he was happy for me to travel on holiday (flying to Madeira in two weeks time).

I duly informed my Travel Insurance Company - Cedar Tree - of diagnosis, medications, further test etc and awaited the bad news! To my delight (astonishment) I was told that, as I had taken out the insurance prior to the onset of symptoms, I am still covered and that there would be no change in premiums. This I was not expecting but we are now preparing to pack. Also as my cover is annual multi trip my next planned holiday in September will still be covered (condition permitting!!).

I hope others find this interesting and useful. I'm not sure other Insurance Companies will be so understanding.

[stevejb1810]

Have a great holiday. And fingers crossed you won’t need that insurance anyway

[skid112 Heart Star]

good news indeed, have a good trip

thanks

[Numberone1]

When I was updating my insurance with my Bank I was told the same, because I developed my problem after I had taken out the insurance, also annual, that I would be covered so long as my consultant agreed and at no extra cost.

[blueshark in reply to Numberone1]

Can I ask who you bank with? My travel insurance is linked to my bank account and has been in place for years; i underwent angioplasty last month

[Hidden]

Hi

Have a great holiday. Direct line not so accomodating. As soon as i tild them 8'd had a stent installed they immediately excluded any heart related condition even tho the event occured during After I'd taken out the policy.

[Mazatectribe]

I had mitral valve repair in January back in last week to take out internal stitch which was poking up and going on holiday in July. Need to know now had surgery had my check up that insurance companies will not charge me the earth for insurance?

[Lynny12]

After having a stent 9 year ago I have not had any problems until March this year. I thought I gad a virus but fainted and cold sweat so was taken into hospital.

Angiogram, Cardiogram and blood tests only showed that my protein levels were high. Neverthe less they said it was a NSTEMI ..Heart attack. Personally it didnt feel like one. But it's only my records. So nowhere my Travel insurence ha's gone sky high. 72yrs old and no follow up needed.?

[Okapis]

Rang insurer to add Dilated Cardiomyopathy / Heart failure to my annual travel insurance. Policy was promptly cancelled by Cover2Travel! I found an alternative by using the British Insurance Association who redirected me towards another company

[Familyk in reply to Okapis]

May I ask how long you have had DCM?

[Okapis in reply to Familyk]

Given the diagnosis by Cardologist on 23/12/21. I was in quite a state with an EF of 31 - Severe ventricular systolic dysfunction.

[Familyk in reply to Okapis]

My ef is,32. Has the cardiologist been able to increase your ef. Nobody is telling me what to expect. My children are so upset

[Okapis in reply to Familyk]

I now have a CRT-P (cardiac synchronisation therapy - pacing variety) in my chest, fitted 1/9/22.In theory my heart muscle now has a chance to remodel itself providing I keep up the exercise - walking the dog in my case.

The medications did bring me back from barely being able to dress myself to normality over a six month period although my EF did not improve. I had a longstanding Left bundle branch block causing my ventricles to beat lopsidely causing the heart muscle to thicken on one side.

No community heart failure service in your area? Straight to a cardiologist? I was referred to a CHFS in the first instance. They were very informative before the service evaporated after the contract went out to tender. Was then taken care of by the hospital heart failure nurses who were also informative.

What medications are you on? I must say it took forever...6 months, one medicine at a time, then an up titration, then another drug introduced and so on. Have the drugs helped at all?

Yes life can get better. It has in my case from a slow moving object to someone walking along footpaths for 60/90 minutes 5 times a week. You do have to feel well enough for that though. Mid July I suddenly realised I felt normal. I had become very unfit so half the battle is getting for again. Took the cardiologist to say walk until you're breathless to stop me being timid about it though!

So let me know how you are? There should be light at the end of the tunnel. There is no disguising however that HF will still be there. How old are you, please?

[Familyk in reply to Okapis]

Hi, Thank you for replying. So far I have not been referred to the cardiac team, I think this is possibly due to having private health insurance. The cardiologist has been very good so far.

I am only 52.

They started me on ramipril but I couldn't tolerate it my BP went far too low. I am now taking losartan. If I can stabilise my BP consultant wants me to start on entresto.

I am currently wearing a heart monitor until tomorrow. I have an angiogram on Monday.

It's all happening so fast. I am totally overwhelmed.

Your journey sounds like it has taken a lot of time. I'm so glad to read you are to get our and about. It's so important to be able to get fresh air and to see people.

I am due back to see consultant on 5th December so a few weeks of not really understanding what's happening.

Just getting by day to day x

[Okapis in reply to Familyk]

I take it you are in the UK? Going private should mean the docs have plenty of time to explain everything?

I think that maybe the best way to not become overwhelmed is to read up online. I did. OK I'm a retired academic and used to searching online. Stick to authoritative sources. Keep away from newspapers, magazines and individual doctors sites. And Wikipedia!

I've found the British Heart Foundation a good source. Try this bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo....

Read through all the basic stuff first so you know how the heart works though.

Heart failure can be caused by different things. The tests e.g. An angiogram is to check that the blood heart vessels are not ' furred up' - by fatty deposits blocking the flow of blood, reducing the oxygen levels making you short of breathe and tired. The heart valves can be faulty and so on.

I think you must have had an echo cardigan to know that's it's dcm. There is a lot learnt from these scans, as I discovered. Was lucky to have a chatty echograph technician who explained everything when he saw I was interested

I'm a doctors daughter with medical brother and sister in law. They all said the the NHS is the best place for severe problems with all the resources in one place: both equipment and medical staff 24 hours a day. Still the case now even given its current overwhelmed state. An EF of 30 +/- does cause the NHS to jump into action. It certainly did for me but the experimentation with drugs was a long process. I take diuretics to get rid of excess water (lungs, abdo, ankles etc. I take Ivrabradine to reduce BP and Entresto to slow the heartbeat plus of course an anticoagulant.

Going on a bit here so I'll stop! I think I've been quite lucky with my treatment. Even co-operated to getting me on a Botswana safari by bringing my procedure forward! Even managed a 3 hour Bush walk. Very chuffed!