Everest Base Camp

My pacemaker was installed in Sept 2018.  I have no other issues of any type. Can I  track to Everst base camp? Any suggestions or precautions or preprations? Thanks! Pankaj Bansal

1 Comments

Fitness to travel

by Selwyn - 2019-04-11 07:39:28

Fitness to travel is something you need the written opinion of your doctor for- not that you are not fit to travel, but rather if anything happens of a medical nature, your medical  insurance would then pay. If you choose not to get this written opinion then medical insurance companies are very fussy about paying should you so much as twist an ankle and need to be removed off the slopes. 

Some arrhythmias are worsened with altitude. Heart failure itself is worsened, and altitude may cause pulmonary oedema. Some medication ( eg. beta blockers, diuretics) are not good with altitude. 

Provided you are otherwise very fit and well, a pacemaker is not a contraindication for exercise in a low oxygen environment. 

This December I was at 5000 metres in the Andes without problems. ( Everest base camp is at 5380m).   I have been treking in the Annapurna range, have been to Tibet - all with my pacemaker.  I did have a doctor's letter for fitness to travel.  Make sure your travel insurance covers you for any activity you undertake.  I remember some years ago a couple of Brits. were caught up in a bomb explosion on the Maldives- it cost £100 000 to air ambulance each one of them to the U.K.

Happy treking.

 

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At age 20, I will be getting a pacemaker in few weeks along with an SA node ablation. This opportunity may change a five year prognosis into a normal life span! I look forward to being a little old lady with a wicked cane!