I’m so upset. I booked myself a full body massage as a treat and despite the fact that I’ve completed hospital treatment they told me that the therapists insurance doesn’t cover them for people who have had cancer. Apparently I have to be cancer free for 5 years before they will allow me to have a massage. I have read a lot about Spas and that the potential for moving cancer cells around the body is unfounded but I wondered whether anyone else had experienced this? I just cried when they refused to take my booking
I had the very same experience a couple of years ago. Some years after breast cancer treatment, I had booked a spa day with a friend and also booked a massage. On the day I filled out a form which included health questions. The beautician approached me soon afterwards and in hushed tones, explained I could not have that treatment for the same reason you were given. I remember feeling very upset, somewhat embarrassed and like cancer had taken away something else from me. But…
I mentioned it to my consultant (for a separate and unrelated oral cancer). He was great, quite agreed that he loves a spa as a way to relax too. He wrote a letter, which I have a copy of saying there is no medical reason I should be refused any treatment on account of either my breast or oral cancer. I take that letter with me anytime I have a spa trip now, but strangely, it has never been suggested that I can’t have a massage since, so I’ve never needed to use it.
I wonder if your consultant could do the same. I hope so.
A friend had this happen a couple of years ago. She had a mastectomy about ten years previously and no further treatment necessary but they still refused to give her a massage. Instead she had their “cancer survivor special offer” (yes, they even called it that) of a hand massage and manicure.