I was diagnosed last week with CLL. I intend to go to India for Christmas and New Year. How will this affect my travel insurance?

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

No idea, what country do you live in? Travel insurance varies widely depending on your resident country. Usually, CLL has no effect, but it varies, between companies.

You should be checking with your doctor about vaccinations required, because you need lead time. Live vaccines are not recommended for CLL patients, like yellow fever etc...

Here are a couple of previous threads on this topic...

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

Sorry for your CLL diagnosis.

[MsLockYourPosts Passed Volunteer]

Adding to Chris's input, one question when I planned a trip out of the country (US) was whether I had required treatment within a certain length of time before my trip - may have been 6 months. If not the insurance covered everything. Check about rules regarding pre-existing conditions.

[Oleboyredw-uk]

Most likely it will go up, however they normally ask more questions once you have a pre-existing condition. I've just been through this for going to USA from UK. Result of CLL and hypertension was a £60 extra hike for me, clearly documented in the supplied information. USA was highest geographic band, I forget the rest, the company Ient with had five geographic bands, some had four. I fell into 'rest of world plus USA and Canada'.

Check levels of cover carefully as well. The company I'm with offered basic, standard and gold which offered different levels of cover and cost.

Shop around, it doesnt take too long to do. Total prices I was offered for 2.5 weeks in USA ranged from £180-£600.

rob

[Hidden]

Thank you. I will spend time looking around and reading. I don't want to be caught out.

[MartyR]

Hey Graham, I can only give you my experienced based on living in UK and travelling to Europe!

Finding the right travel insurance policy for you at the cheapest possible price is difficult with pre-existing medical condition(s).

Medical claims and emergencies abroad are one of the biggest costs to insurance companies. This is why some insurers will offer millions of pounds worth of cover to pay for things like hospital treatment, emergency repatriation and travel expenses associated with having to stay abroad longer due to a medical emergency.

So as We have a greater greater risk of claiming - our premiums reflect this!

So make sure you make a full disclosure of your condition(s) because insurance companies are always looking for ways of not paying out!

Travel insurance for people with existing medical conditions is designed so that if you were to fall ill whilst abroad due to your medical condition, then your health care costs will be COMPLETELY covered which can run into the thousands. This will give you the peace of mind to know that everything will be taken care of should the worst happen.

Enjoy your great adventure!

Marty

[Quarry]

Graham

I recently went to US and did check with my insurance.

They basically said specifically that any CLL-related-issue and current CLL-related medication was NOT covered.

I took view that the CLL was stable and unlikely to get me into trouble. So I was happy to go un-covered on CLL as a core illness

I was at the time on steroids for AIHA that the CLL provoked. They were clear that this was part of CLL-related medication (even though technically not CLL itself), so any trouble the steroids (and I was coming off them gradually, so in slightly uncertain territory) again would NOT be covered. As I had not really had major issues with the steroids, I again took decision to go uncovered. That was more of a risk, but mercifully trip passed off without incident

I guess in retrospect, what if I had got any old illness that required attention......my feeling is I would have been covered, but then again, would the insurance company have said it was worse due to CLL?......and then backed out of cover? This needs to be explicit and I fear I did not clarify!

Andy

[Gartshore]

Hi! It's such a shock to receive your diagnosis; takes a while to assimilate. Chris directed you to my experience (thank you, Chris) when I went to Oz earlier this year. With hindsight, I would just have gone onto my hubby's Nationwide insurance, which excludes my CLL. I think I was over-anxious. I could've been back home in a day and, at this stage of my illness, it is extremely unlikely that would become extremely ill overnight. I now have a son in the Middle East as well as a daughter in Oz, so will be travelling to see them (taking in some other places too - carefully chosen re health risks) next year. I think I'll see if I can get the Nationwide.

I'm now quite calm about my illness because the only outward sign of it is that I become tired more easily. I am very anxious and upset prior to having blood taken and awaiting results. I am very aware that the future is uncertain. I'm 'going on' a bit but what I mean is that, when first diagnosed, the news is devastating and we think that we are imminently going to be very ill or meet our demise. We are therefore very careful re getting suitable travel insurance.

My post here is about gaining some perspective on our illness and its stage. However, I think it's more likely that you might be unwell (usually tummy trouble) in India, depending on where you are. This brings me back to my initial dilemma, ie would CLL be blamed as the 'backdrop' to any holiday illness and give insurance companies the ability to wriggle out of any payout? On second thoughts, I might take the financial hit, just to be safe and have peace of mind!!! (I'll let you know, next time I'm going abroad). Meantime, everyone's coming to Scotland for my Oz daughter's December wedding.

Enjoy your holiday in India and let us know what your decision is re travel insurance.

[UKfulloflife]

Hi

We've had 2 holidays since I was diagnosed last year and investigated Travel Insurance carefully. Luckily, the first trip ( a cruise round the Mediterranean) was booked prior to diagnosis, so I was covered for everything including the CLL. Our 2nd was to Oz to spend Christmas and New Year with our son. I could simply go on my existing insurance and not be covered for anything CLL related, or I could spend £600+ to ensure I was fully covered. As this figure was simply not an option for us at the time, we took the decision to risk it. I was more concerned about catching something from a fellow passenger on the flights too and fro than having problems once we were there, so I looked into what I could do to protect myself en route. I took Teatree and Eucalyptus oils with me and used them according to the instructions on the bottles. As 'luck' would have it, I sat next to a young man with a most horrendous cold/flu, who coughed, sneezed and was generally very unwell throughout the entire flight. I ended up giving him remedies to help him through the flight! I was convinced that I was in for a bad dose of whatever it was, as at that stage I was catching absolutely everything that was going. I didn't though, and we had a wonderful illness free holiday. Maybe I was just lucky, maybe it was the oils that kept the bugs at bay. I'll never know for sure, so all I can say is that it worked for me.

[Myrddin]

MacMillan have a good section on travel and insurance

macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinfo...

[jangreen]

Hi we have Nationwide free travel insurance both my husband and I have health problems (chemo for CLL and Diabetics and Parkinsons for Hubby) and was quoted £140.00 for us both. So shop around, try the web and see what happens. Good luck.