My husband had a mechanical valve fitted in 2015 due to congenital bicuspid valve and regurgitation. Barring the odd minor complication, usually warfarin related, all has been fine.
However, on a call last week from the cardiologist, to discuss his last scan (7 months earlier!!), he was told his aorta was increasing. It is now at 4.6 from a CT scan in July 2024. His last echo was at 3.7 in July 2023. I understand there is a potential difference between CT and echo, so he has another echo booked for a couple of weeks to see if that will give more information.
I'm assuming that if this also shows an increase then he will be monitored until the cardiologist decides he needs OHS to replace/repair the aorta, and maybe the valve. Obviously we're reeling a bit, as we didn't expect to have to go through all this again.
To complicate matters further, this year is a big birthday and we have a 3 week, very expensive holiday booked to Namibia in June. Obviously if he needs surgery we will not be able to go, but if the cardiologist says to monitor again in a few months, and IF he decides he still wants to go on the holiday, does anyone have any recommendations for travel insurance companies which would cover his situation? I'm not totally convinced I want to be in a remote part of Africa if the worst happens (i.e. a rupture), but if he does want to go, I'd like to make sure we're covered.
Any advice? Or any advice on how to stop reeling from this unexpected news?! We know the operation is likely to be successful, we've done it all before, but I seem to have got straight back onto the stress conveyor belt which comes with all this stuff...
Thx
Written by
valvewife
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If you are already covered by an existing travel insurance provider then you must talk to them soonest to find out where you stand. If further tests or investigations are required or if the health risk has changed you may be asked for an additional premium or the provider may even choose to cancel the policy or exclude some of the cover. But you wont really know until you talk to them. But if you have no travel insurance cover at present I suggest you find a comparison site for travel insurance with pre-existing medical conditions, answer all the questions fully and honestly, and then take it from there. Or talk to a local insurance broker. But, again, if there are upcoming tests, investigations and procedures due you may find insurers are unwilling to provide cover or the premium is excessive. Finally we are all different age, medical conditions, where we are going, duration etc, and what might suit one person may not suit the next, there is no one size fits all, that's is why it is important to do your own research. Hope this is useful.
He has an annual policy but it excludes his heart valve. Typically it is now up for renewal (we booked the holiday a few months ago when there was no anticipated problems, but knowing how bad the insurance companies can be I assume they'll say it was pre-existing and wriggle out of it if we try to claim a cancellation. Not sure if I can argue that increasing aorta is different to a replacement valve - who knows?).
I'm pretty resigned to losing all the money we have paid as a deposit. The balance of payment is due a few weeks after his next scan, and I doubt we'll have any concrete information by then, so barring a miracle I'm assuming the whole trip will have to be cancelled. Like you say, insurance companies dont like tests or investigations.
Hopefully you will be able to sort out your travel insurance situation to your satisfaction. However if it gets to a rejected claim situation and you believe the rejection is unreasonable and outside the terms of your contract and the sum involved is considerable (and the insurance company might be trying it on) and you are prepared to invest the time there are things you can do as in the link below.
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