Provided your condition is stable and you no longer need constant medical supervision there is no reason why you shouldn’t go away on holiday. Most airlines allow you to travel ten days after a heart attack provided you can briskly walk 100 yards on the flat without chest pain or undue breathlessness. However, the British Heart Foundation advises, ‘Travel is best delayed for about six weeks after a heart attack or longer in patients who have heart failure or severe angina.’ Your doctor will be able to help you decide whether traveling is advisable.

You should contact the airline medical department well before you are due to go if you would like their medical team to provide a wheelchair or assistance with early boarding, and ensure that you get any care you need during the flight. You should also get a medical questionnaire from the airline office when you book your ticket, which your family doctor should fill in and return to the airline so any special provisions can be made for your journey.

Once at your destination, try to pace yourself. There is no need to spend every minute sitting under a beach umbrella but it is not a good idea to plan vigorous activities every second of the day either. Belinda Linden, nurse adviser with the British Heart Foundation advises, ‘It is a good idea to build up your stamina before you go so that you can do what you want to do while you are on holiday.’

Above all try to maintain an optimistic attitude. Howard, who has had a heart bypass, says: ‘I don’t like to sit around on holiday and after my bypass I continued to take active holidays. I was able to send a card to my consultant saying I’d climbed 100-odd steps.’ Clive takes regular walking holidays both in the UK and abroad. ‘I can appreciate that people who have lost confidence after surgery could worry,’ he says, ‘but going away in that frame of mind is no use. The main thing for me is not to take chances. I get guidebooks before I go and plan my walks. I tend to steer clear of the more strenuous ones and go for those marked easy/moderate. I make sure I have proper boots and equipment and wet-weather gear, and that I tell people where I’m going.’

If you are going somewhere sunny and have had heart surgery you should use a total sun block on your scar as the sun dampens down the activity of the immune system in the skin and this can impede healing.

For further advice about health on holiday, Stay Healthy Abroad by Rob Ryan is published by the Health Education Authority.