Travel

Good morning Bg65 . Many doctors encourage travel and holidays as it helps with wellbeing. The only time it might be difficult is if your brother is having radiotherapy or chemotherapy when they recommend waiting for up to 4 weeks before flying. These treatments can upset the blood balance which puts you at greater risk of a DVT and you are also immunocompromised so a little extra caution is needed to avoid bugs. Starting any treatment can pose a risk initially but allergic reactions would quickly show up. Hormone therapies will have an effect but most side effects can be managed and should not affect travel but it is important to have regular blood tests to check that nothing is going haywire. The frequency of these will be determined by the one you are put on but I think Abiraterone is initially checked more frequently than other types of HT. Also hormone therapy makes the skin more sensitive to the sun so sunscreen factor 50 plus covering up are wise safety precautions when out in it. Travel insurance can be costly whilst having radiotherapy or chemotherapy but once stable things should get cheaper. There are specialist companies which will insure cancer patients and others will be along with their experience but we have many people on the forum who regularly travel and our own Brian Millibob has his own holiday home which he visits regularly.

Good Morning BG (Bg65) 

Yes, we have a place in Turkey and we are off there on 11 March 2025 for a couple of weeks. At the start of my treatment I checked with my team about foreign travel and was given just the advice Alwayshope has posted in her post above.

Indeed my team said it would do me good to get away and flying with an indwelling catheter can have it's "amusing moments"!! We tend to go abroad 3/4 times a year and it does make your outlook on life brighter - even the anticipation of a holiday is good for the mind.

Travel insurance can be a drawback but there are insurance companies who will cover you - we have a forum for this and here's the link:

Travel insurance forum for cancer patients 

On a personal note we have a joint annual worldwide (our place is in Asia!) policy with insurancewith  - Mrs Milllibob has issues (medical I would add) and our joint policy is around £ 780. To get the right cover and best price I find ringing the company for your quote ensures they have all the information they need.

I hope this helps and give some clarification.

Best wishes - Brian.

Hi Bg65 , none of us are medically trained but in my view the advice you have been given is rubbish.  Yes, during and after Chemo you need to be very careful and RT has some challenges for a period of time re flying.  I had Chemo in December, then 37 x 2Gy RT sessions ending in July and then travelled to Beirut and Cyprus with my oncologists full support and encouragement in the October (it was a few years ago!).  For some people, holidays are a vital part of living and in my opinion, you need to live life to the full.  Insurance can be an issue, but that is another subject.  Encourage your brother to travel it will do him good.  David