Hi all, After surgery in January, it has just been confirmed I will need chemo followed by radiotherapy. I have got my head round that but what I am struggling with is when to start as I have a holiday booked (prior to diagnosis). My oncologist has said its not ideal but has supported delaying treatment but it will be bang on the 12 weeks. I have IDC Grade 3 HR&PR positive. Should I cancel the holiday and start treatment straight away or have a fab time away with friends and start when I get back?
Hello. I was in a situation last summer where I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer, grade 2 and DCIS, four weeks before we were due to go on our annual, all family, month in the sun.
Everyone is different but there is no way I could have gone on holiday knowing that I had a cancer in me and could grow, even a tiniest bit. I was begging my consultant for the first possible surgery (we had private insurance so was able to get surgery a couple of weeks later) but even that short wait was horrendous. But as I say, some people are really calm and could cope with the wait, but I wasn’t one of them.
What I would say is you may need to talk to your travel insurance company if you do go on holiday as when we did go away post surgery they was a lot of questions about diagnosis and whether I was awaiting treatment (I wasn’t) so that might be worth a chat.
I can say that when we did cancel our holiday, my insurance company paid out pretty quick - we had a privately booked villa, airport hotel room to the tune of £6,000 and they paid the lot. We were going to claim flights too but TUI offered to move them to this summer free of charge.
Good look with your treatment xx
As already said, everyone is different. I delayed chemo, so i could get some eggs in the freezer. My oncologist said no more than 2 weeks. I had egg collection one day, chemo the next. To be honest, I just wanted to get started. I had the mentality, the sooner you start, the sooner you finish. Best wishes.
Thanks @lynnc123 and @edp, it’s great to hear from others that understand. I think I am going to get started on the treatment, I want this over and finished with as soon possible. Just constantly in the back of my mind as I am sure you can relate. Hope you are doing well. Thank you.
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I’ve just had my six month check up (post surgery, letrozole 10 years) and it all seems like such a long time ago, sometimes like it didn’t happen.
I can tell you that the holiday we had post treatment was the best we’ve ever had - whether I was now just grateful to be there, but I was swimming in the sea and just so thankful, I never thought I’d feel such calm, so I’m sure when you do finally get your holiday it will be the best.
Good luck and keep sharing when you need xx
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Hi,
I had surgery jan 22 and started chemo April 22 as they had a backlog. I panicked about this but the oncologist assured me it made no real difference. I am three years clear now. Good luck with the decision.
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Sounds wonderful and what a lovely treat after a rubbish year. What do you need to do about travel insurance do you have to declare you have had cancer if you are not having treatment and if so are the premiums high, my insurance is with my bank?
@patch220 yes, my insurance is with my bank - RBS, and I needed to declare that I had had cancer, when it was, the surgery and what medication I was now taking.
There was a tiny bit more for the cancer like £30 surcharge or something- which is so annoying because it’s not likely I’m suddenly going to become a higher risk three months post surgery…
BUT the letrozole I am now on pushed my cholesterol up so that added an extra £70 so I’m paying about £100 more for the year (it’s a family policy so includes husband and children).
They didn’t seem to care that I wasn’t taking statins and the GP wanted to check again in six months to see if cholesterol stabilised, it was the high cholesterol 
computer says £70!
I could probably have found cheaper by looking around for other insurance but RBS had paid out thousands following the initial holiday cancellation and I was really pleased with the service so I have stayed with them.