I wasn’t sure whether to post this in the travel or health forum, but DH had a quadruple bypass in 2022. He recovered well and his cardiologist said he was fine to resume diving. Wondering if anyone on this forum who still SCUBA dives also had heart surgery?
When we booked a trip on a Great Barrier Reef liveaboard in 2023, they required that he be evaluated by a DAN-certified doctor. It was a PITA because he had to drive about 5 hours round trip twice for two separate appointments as they were no DAN-certified doctors near us. However, given that his surgery happened in April and we booked the trip 7 months later, we thought it could be a good idea for our own peace of mind even if not required. Basically they just put him through a typical cardiac stress test. He passed and all went well on the trip.
Fast forward to 2024. We booked a much easier dive trip this year - Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Initially they told us he could just bring his medical letter from 2022 with him. They contacted me today and said he needs to be re-checked since his letter is over a year old, even though he just had a cardiac check-up in September 2023.
His cardiologist told us that DH’s heart did not have significant damage; the surgery was just to clear out his “plumbing” and he will likely eventually die of some other non-cardiac related cause. I am wondering if anyone else who’s had cardiac surgery and still SCUBA dives has to be medically evaluated by a DAN doctor every year. The good news is they’re easier to find in FL. Just wondering if we should expect to have to do this annually now? This is on top of his regular cardiology check-ups and honestly seems unnecessary to us from a health evaluation standpoint. I think it’s a CYA for the dive operators.
When we booked a trip on a Great Barrier Reef liveaboard in 2023, they required that he be evaluated by a DAN-certified doctor. It was a PITA because he had to drive about 5 hours round trip twice for two separate appointments as they were no DAN-certified doctors near us. However, given that his surgery happened in April and we booked the trip 7 months later, we thought it could be a good idea for our own peace of mind even if not required. Basically they just put him through a typical cardiac stress test. He passed and all went well on the trip.
Fast forward to 2024. We booked a much easier dive trip this year - Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Initially they told us he could just bring his medical letter from 2022 with him. They contacted me today and said he needs to be re-checked since his letter is over a year old, even though he just had a cardiac check-up in September 2023.
His cardiologist told us that DH’s heart did not have significant damage; the surgery was just to clear out his “plumbing” and he will likely eventually die of some other non-cardiac related cause. I am wondering if anyone else who’s had cardiac surgery and still SCUBA dives has to be medically evaluated by a DAN doctor every year. The good news is they’re easier to find in FL. Just wondering if we should expect to have to do this annually now? This is on top of his regular cardiology check-ups and honestly seems unnecessary to us from a health evaluation standpoint. I think it’s a CYA for the dive operators.