Diving with stent in the heart?

[rfwoodvt]

16+ stents and 5 infarcts between 1998 and 2010. Bad genes and bad medical advice for my particular issue.

Turned it all around 12 years ago.

The damage is still there but I got clearance from my cardiologist to dive.



As a matter of full disclosure however, I've been Physically Active the entire time as I am a professional tree climber. Doc figures as long as I could climb trees 10 hours a day there's no reason I couldn't dive. LOL

 

[Shabaday]

I had a MI on January 18, 2007. Had a stent placed in LAD was 100% blocked and I do have heart damage. I took 14 years off of diving (was certified in 1977 and was assistant instructor) but kept moderately in shape with exercise both weight and cardio. My cardiologist who has followed me for 12 years cleared me for diving...he said enjoy and just don't over exert yourself. I do "easier" dives plus I will be 61 this year. I did the Keys from 30-45'. I then went to West Palm and did 4 dives to 90 plus feet all on Nitrox. Those were easy drift dives.
I am not a cardiologist although I play a real life sort of Doctor during the day. I recommend get yourself in reasonable physical condition and keep yourself that way. Don't over exert yourself if you can help it on dives. Know your limits.

 

[miserkris]

Thx...I walk for an hour daily. Should I also do minimal weights? Doctor said biking ok too if I exert same level as walking an hour. Said if you're seeing chest pain during exertion lmk but hasn't happened yet thank god.

My numbers have never been this perfect says my cardiologist...

So anyone aware of such dive trips where it's boat dive but shallows only like not more than 40 feet?
Wondering if muck dives are that way... In indo philippines etc.

Also I think the main risk is if you do suffer a cardiac arrest during a dive then that's the problem and not the fact that you are scuba diving that will stress your heart if you do the normal type of scuba diving and don't exert yourself too much etc... I don't think the depth Factor, breathing via reg... has anything to do with heart function am I right?

It's only when you get into other problems like DCS, bends, narcossis, shark ... that'd stress the heart. I have always stayed close to my buddy usually a DM...

How to find the best doctor who will do a scuba evaluation in the area where I live in which is Philadelphia which is known for its multiple hospitals?!

 

[Marie13]

Contact DAN for a doctor recommendation. Shallow reef diving off Key Largo, FL.

 

[rddvet]

Changing eating habit (less fatty food) and exercise help. My cholesterol dropped from 280 before the heart attack to 160 afterwards. In 2014 I hiked up & summited Mount Kilimanjaro (6,000m / 20,000’ elevation). I cycle about 100 miles (160km) / week,

this is not necessarily good info. For years I fought with weight and cholesterol. I tried all the diets. I have always exercised heavily 5-6 days a week. Finally I hired a nutritionist who reviewed my labs and my habits and immediately knew I would do best on a keto diet which is full of fatty foods). I immediately lost a ton of weight, kept it off, and my blood work is spotless.
Avoiding fatty foods is correct for some people, but as a whole the direct connection to “fatty foods” and heart disease is no longer accurate. When I track my macros the majority are fat followed by protein and then very little carbs. The difference is my fats are very healthy fats.

To the op: consult Dan or a diving cardiologist they recommend. Many cardiologists don’t understand diving and just tell people they can’t dive.

 

[CB85]

I had triple coronary artery bypass in 1999, I was back diving in 6 months.

I had a quad.. was back diving after a year. OP needs to find the right Dr. I dive with a Garmin MK2s which has HR. Monitoring.. my max HR on my last dive was. 110.

 

[CB85]

this is not necessarily good info. For years I fought with weight and cholesterol. I tried all the diets. I have always exercised heavily 5-6 days a week. Finally I hired a nutritionist who reviewed my labs and my habits and immediately knew I would do best on a keto diet which is full of fatty foods). I immediately lost a ton of weight, kept it off, and my blood work is spotless.
Avoiding fatty foods is correct for some people, but as a whole the direct connection to “fatty foods” and heart disease is no longer accurate. When I track my macros the majority are fat followed by protein and then very little carbs. The difference is my fats are very healthy fats.

To the op: consult Dan or a diving cardiologist they recommend. Many cardiologists don’t understand diving and just tell people they can’t dive.

I'm post HA and quad bypass. By my blood test results I was obviously insulin resistant before my surgery (high triglycerides/low HDL despite being a runner). Moved to a low carb high fat (healthy mono-unsaturated and saturated fats) diet and my blood tests now look great (except LDL which is somewhat above my Drs target for me). Point I'm trying to make is that heart disease is complex. Get good sleep, reduce stress and lay off the carbs and especially sugars. I would go as far as to say lay off the polyunsaturated (vegetable) oils and stick with more natural foods (olive/coconut) that aren't made in a factory. As to the person who certified me as fit to dive... He's a heart surgeon, cardiologist and sport doctor specializing in diving so he had some really interesting things to say about my surgery! As a side note, I now dive in warm water (Norther tip of the Red Sea is my local dive site) with a Garmin Descent MK2s watch. I monitor my heart rate during the dive and afterwards (one of the reasons I drove to ER and ended up with surgery was unusual HR during running).

 

[captain]

I'm post HA and quad bypass. By my blood test results I was obviously insulin resistant before my surgery (high triglycerides/low HDL despite being a runner). Moved to a low carb high fat (healthy mono-unsaturated and saturated fats) diet and my blood tests now look great (except LDL which is somewhat above my Drs target for me). Point I'm trying to make is that heart disease is complex. Get good sleep, reduce stress and lay off the carbs and especially sugars. I would go as far as to say lay off the polyunsaturated (vegetable) oils and stick with more natural foods (olive/coconut) that aren't made in a factory. As to the person who certified me as fit to dive... He's a heart surgeon, cardiologist and sport doctor specializing in diving so he had some really interesting things to say about my surgery! As a side note, I now dive in warm water (Norther tip of the Red Sea is my local dive site) with a Garmin Descent MK2s watch. I monitor my heart rate during the dive and afterwards (one of the reasons I drove to ER and ended up with surgery was unusual HR during running).

Running was how I found out I had a problem, Never had an HA, because the blockages were caught in time.

 

[scubaozy]

Running was how I found out I had a problem, Never had an HA, because the blockages were caught in time.

How do you find out when running?

 

[duke dive medicine]

Hey all.. I'm 49yo.... I had 60 dives before my heart attack last year. Now I'm a heart attack survivor with a stent. That was more than a year ago. I'm stable now. Echo, ekg normal.... Cardiologist plainly said we don't advise scuba for heart health...but that's in combination of bends risk. But what if I dive shallow and skip the deep dives?....
Any place I can just dive shallow like 30 feet along with people with similar problems or seniors? Are there special OPs that did such dives?

BTW I'm going to hawaii, Oahu in Dec... Might dive. Snorkelling for sure!

Pls advice thx

Immersion in and of itself, along with level of exercise, are more relevant risk factors than depth for people with cardiac conditions. If you're in southeast PA you are close to the excellent hyperbaric facility at UPenn Hospital. I recommend you give them a call for a fitness-to-dive evaluation. If you are otherwise healthy and have normal exercise tolerance and ejection fraction, you can probably do more than you think you can diving-wise.

Best regards,
DDM