Walking at high altitude, post bypass surgery

[Dj1962]

Hi all I'm 57 and always walked and hiked..Can anyone tell me if its safe to hike at altitudes over 4000m after having single bypass surgery..Thanks

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Obviously run it past your GP or cardiologist. There was some published research that suggested a maximum altitude of 2,500m for heart patients. This equates to Manchu Pinchu where occasionally people do get into trouble.

[Ianc2]

About 13.000 feet. I am a keen walker and walk a lot in Austria, Switzerland and Italy. They all have good back up systems, helicopter rescue facilities, excellent hospitals and pretty good ski lifts to do all the donkey work in getting up high and getting down quickly if you need to. I usually find that about 3,000m the air starts to get a bit thin .

Another thing to consider is will your insurance cover you without charging you an arm and a leg?

Having said all that I think I would go for last minute walking break in somewhere like Zermatt or Chamonix where you can go high and see how you get on?

[Dj1962 in reply to Ianc2]

Thanks for your reply, last year i climbed Gran Paradiso 4060m a few months before surgery..i suppose what i need to know is if I could do this with a 70-90% blockage what is the real reason I cant do it now..?

[Ianc2 in reply to Dj1962]

Have a look at Ranulf Fiennes book . He climbed the Eiger after a heart op, but he had chest pains when within spitting range of the top of Everest and had to cease and desist, Your doctors have a duty of care and will advise you accordingly. What you do is up to you.

Personally I would go for a few trial runs as I said earlier. If you are O.K. then push on. If you can find a cardiologist who specialises in this area (RAF perhaps), you might get better information to work on?

[Dj1962 in reply to Ianc2]

Again thank you I will .