Newly diagnosed

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I was diagnosed in August finally got start date for chemo radiation therapy for 18/12. It will be for 5 weeks. Followed by an operation in the new year.

i am more concerned and anxious about getting to my treatment as I will have to travel by boat then bus daily to get from Isle of Wight to QA Cosham. They do have hovercraft and Daisy bus but the hovercraft is so unreliable and my husband may not be allowed on the Daisy bus if busy.

we’ve made two trips there so far one to meet consultant - we travelled during severe flooding.

the 2nd time the boat we scheduled was cancelled so chose to go via Southampton and train - for the train to be cancel.

i wonder how I’m going to cope with 25 consecutive week day appointments for therapy always worried about getting there.

Kareno62 11 months ago

Hi Saints4ever Gosh that’s a lot of travelling. Have you enquired whether there is any accommodation available at the hospital? If not could you look at an Air BNB for in the week? If you ring the support desk on the number below then they may have other suggestions and also advise as to whether you could claim any help with costs for this?

There can be some waiting around for your radiotherapy if they are running behind due to scanner breakdowns or emergency needs so be prepared for that. The actual treatment only takes about 10-15 minutes and your husband would have to stay in the waiting room. Here’s a link to a post about it

community.macmillan.org.uk/.../radiotherapy-care-top-tips

Take care

Karen x

Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

Saints4ever 11 months ago in reply to Kareno62

I haven’t looked to over night stay - my husband could not stay over as we have commitments at home. Reading the info given to me I am only entitled to claim boat fares so not even boat or taxi.

I will enquire to see what is available thank you

Saints4ever 11 months ago in reply to Saints4ever

Should say bus fares not refundable

Dulac 11 months ago

There must be others on the IOW (and elsewhere) who have undergone this treatment at an awkward location, with similar concerns over travelling and unreliable public transport links. I should expect the hospital team to offer suggestions on this, particularly the radiotherapy unit, as your main concern appears to be that of missing your appointment in this important stage of treatment. From past experience I found that the people who treated me were most helpful and supportive. It seemed to boil down to the specialised equipment being used as efficiently as possible for everyone's benefit and one might think that as long as this was achieved - perhaps by juggling appointments on the day to cater for delays beyond the patient's control - then all would be OK. The last thing anyone would want is for the patient to arrive in a state of stress and anxiety - that doesn't do anyone any good at all. Given the might of the NHS this problem should be resolved quickly to allay your concerns.

Do keep us posted on this.

Dulac