Travel after stenting

  Approximately 2 months ago my 78 friend had a stent inserted after having suffered an MI, with subsequent restarting of his heart twice.  He spent 5 weeks in the hospital and 7 weeks at home.  He was told to take a stress test so he could begin Phase 2 cardiac rehab.  His stress test lasted 2 1/2 minutes because his legs gave out.  He has made an appointment to start phast 2, but now hewants totake a vacation to Hawaii (9 hours by plane).   Is travel for this length of period safe?  He asked his cardiologist, but did not receive a reply.
Dear Marcy
Your friend's performance on the stress test was extremely poor. It suggests that he is severely deconditioned (out of shape). I would recommend further cardiac rehabilitation in a supervised setting before the sort of vacation that you are talking about. It is not so much the flight that worries me, as it is his stress test performance - being able to last only 2 minutes on a treadmill after a heart attack puts him at very high risk of future cardiac problems.
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