Anyone have info on places to travel to safely ?

My 77 year old husband got his LVAD in July 2020.  He has done well and we decided to take advantage of a cruise credit we had.  In October we did a 21 day cruise from Seattle through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale.  We made stops in Mexico, Aruba and the Bahamas.  We figured that at any time we were no more than about a 3 hour flight to a major city in the US.  We had the blessing of our LVAD team and my husbands doctor.  Traveling is what we love.  We had a great time.  We never felt at risk.  There is a lot to see in the US and you have to be comfortable with your choices.  I hope you and your wife are able to enjoy your travels where ever they take you.

Jodie P

Where you ever able to travel to Europe? My 75 year old husband had his Heartmate 3 in August 2020. In 2022 we celebrated our 50th Anniversary and decided to take our immediate family to the south of France where we have friends and spend 2 weeks there. There is a website or app that will tell you where LVAD centers are throughout the world but being super cautious I called Abbot technical line and they were super helpful. We stayed in a VRBO in southern France near Monaco and despite the fact that the closest center was in Marseilles they could tell me they shipped an LVAD to Monaco's Cardiac Center of Excellence which indicated to me that the facilities were close by if he did need attention over there. We enjoyed a thrilling two weeks with our children & grandchildren keeping in mind that my husband needed to pace himself and take the occasional day to rest while everyone else was day tripping. The only problem we had was with TSA at Newark who refused to allow the dressing kits to be carry on (despite having paperwork from VAD team stating the exemption regs) unless I allowed them to test every bottle of Sterile saline. The concept of "sterile" dressing kit escaped them. Luckily I had a wonderful check in agent who babysat the bag and reassured me it would be there at the other end. It was ! Two years later we bought a boat and sailed it from Florida to CT, spent the summer up north and are now heading home. It is amazing what you can do now with destination therapy and the will to live life to the fullest.

Where you ever able to travel to Europe? My 75 year old husband had his Heartmate 3 in August 2020. In 2022 we celebrated our 50th Anniversary and decided to take our immediate family to the south of France where we have friends and spend 2 weeks there. There is a website or app that will tell you where LVAD centers are throughout the world but being super cautious I called Abbot technical line and they were super helpful. We stayed in a VRBO in southern France near Monaco and despite the fact that the closest center was in Marseilles they could tell me they shipped an LVAD to Monaco's Cardiac Center of Excellence which indicated to me that the facilities were close by if he did need attention over there. We enjoyed a thrilling two weeks with our children & grandchildren keeping in mind that my husband needed to pace himself and take the occasional day to rest while everyone else was day tripping. The only problem we had was with TSA at Newark who refused to allow the dressing kits to be carry on (despite having paperwork from VAD team stating the exemption regs) unless I allowed them to test every bottle of Sterile saline. The concept of "sterile" dressing kit escaped them. Luckily I had a wonderful check in agent who babysat the bag and reassured me it would be there at the other end. It was ! Two years later we bought a boat and sailed it from Florida to CT, spent the summer up north and are now heading home. It is amazing what you can do now with destination therapy and the will to live life to the fullest.