i finished my chemo 3 weeks ago and was thinking of booking a holiday to cuba at the end of november how do i know if this would be ok to do

[kaza1]

have stage 3c ovarian cancer

[Pimkin81]

I don't see why not if you are feeling well! One thing is travel insurance - I think the macmillan site has some good info on cancer friendly insurers ?

Claire

[Hidden]

You won't know if it is ok to do, have you tried getting travel insurance ? It is still soon after treatment, have you discussed this holiday with your oncologist ? they have afterall got your medical records so could best answer this question.

best wishes love x G x

[kaza1]

thank you for your replies, my consultants advice was to go out and live life now and do all the things you wanted to do but i want to be sensible.i dont want to become ill

[Hidden in reply to kaza1]

Dear Kaza,

Even though your consultants advise is to live life now, and I agree, I wonder whether they realise where you were thinking off going, to go to Cuba you will need to show proof of insurance before entering the country.... I have read that medical treatment is good for tourists in Cuba (better than it is for locals) because it is costly so unless you could get medical insurance I really wouldn't advise you to go. You could give a travel insurance a ring to find out if insurance is affordable I find MIA is good for cancer patients the tel number is 011268782745

Best wishes love x G x

[Caro25]

Hi,

I was diagnosed stage 4 last July and the first thing I did was book a holiday in Barbados with my consultants blessing. I didn't get insurance as she said nothing would happen that quickly,

This year we went to Egyypt, again without insurance, as I felt fine.

Maybe that's reckless but it's important to enjoy life.

So I would say go to Cuba, I'd love to myself.

X

[kaza1 in reply to Caro25]

thanks caro25 it sounds like you like your holidays too.....

[Caro25 in reply to kaza1]

Definitely! But just to clarify, when I said no insurance, I got the usual insurance, nothing extra for the cancer though. Cannot bear pay more for it. But I do book at the last minute ...

Hope you get to go and enjoy xx

[Pimkin81]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that to enter Cuba you must have insurance? I would check- could be wrong!

[Izzystep]

Insurance can be very costly for cancer patients, even those in remission, but you can always take a chance and not have it. My advice would be to holiday somewhere where they have lots of daily flights back to the UK, just in case. Have fun

wherever you go xxxx

[Hidden]

If the consultant says it OK go for it. As others have said its whether the travel insurance, is available at at reasonable rate. Enjoy and make the most of your chemo free time. As you will see on the site when we are told we are ok for holidays, boy do we enjoy them, it gives you normality.I am sure you will be given some tips for the insurance.

Regards Barbara.

[doreenharwood]

Hi, another Barbara here although I am always known as "Babs".

We went to Cuba a couple of years ago but that was before I had ovarian cancer. It said we needed insurance but nobody asked to see it when we arrived in the country. Must say its a fab place and I really enjoyed it. While I was there I had to attend the out of hours doctor as my leg swelled up rather badly one night. It turned out I was bitten by a sand fly and I had to be injected in my bottom and take water tablets for a few days. We did not use our insurance as the total bill was about £90.00 and our excess was something like £75.00. If our bill had been higher we would have need to use the insurance. I know I would not go abroad without insurance but I would leave out the fact that I have OC, as if we start to feel unwell due to the cancer we know we have time before we need treatment. All I would say is that enjoy life I have has 6 holidays this year and I'm off to Paris in November.

If you do go I recommend swimming with Dolphins and a visit to Coco Cobana in Havana. Let us know what you decide.

Love Babs x x

[kaza1 in reply to doreenharwood]

thanks babs you have got me excited now x

[doreenharwood]

We stayed in a lovely hotel in Cuba I will message you with details when hubby gets back as I always forget the names of hotels x x

[doreenharwood]

The hotel in Cuba was The Paridesus del Rio in Holguin Province. It is south of the island in Gaurdalavaca. It was truly a wonderful hotel and the service was 1st class. We had a lovely pool and a private beach. I even went swimming with tropical fish. We had a great time I would really recommend it.

If you go please post some photos just to make us all envious

Love Babs x x

[fionai]

Hi Kaza

I was diagnosed with stage 3c in Feb 2011, still here and planning holidays.

Just check health insurance whilst away and cancellation policy regarding cancelling holiday due to ill health. Take care. Fiona.

[Hilsuk]

Hi - go for it girl if you can ! The way I understand travel insurance ( Ive filled in loads of insurance claims for people in my job as a gp ) is that it will cover you for things you haven't already got but is unlikely to cover you ( at all or without a big premium ) for any conditions you already have when you book the holiday. ( Or any complications related to a preexisting illness/ condition) So , you are unlikely to get insured for anything that could happen connected with the cancer, but should still be insured for broken legs or other totally unrelated things. Don't lie about previous existing conditions because they will ask your gp to verify this from your medical records if you have a problem ( and your gp really can't lie or they could be in big trouble even though they would want to do their best for you. ) Best to book as close to travel date as possible as unlikely cancer going to suddenly incapacitate you, ( unless you got something like an acute bowel obstruction ) , but always bear in mind worse case scenario, if hospitalised or flown home with escort in USA or somewhere expensive, can cost you huge amounts of money. I have heard of people having to sell their homes to pay for intensive care treatment whilst on hols in the states.

Having said that did a bucket holiday of a lifetime last year to Ecuador , the amazon and small boat sailing in the Galápagos Islands without any insurance to cover anything cancer related - no disasters and it was mind blowingly wonderful.

Good luck xxx

[kaza1]

hi hilsuk,

so i can get insurance to cover health apart from cancer and then it wont cost a fortune is that correct?

[MaggyH in reply to kaza1]

I recently had a 3 week holiday in the USA. I took out a normal annual travel insurance policy (with Admiral ins)and then rang them. They asked me few questions about my OC treatment etc and then said they would cover me for everything except anything relating to my OC.

So I was covered for things like stolen cameras, cancelled flights, broken legs but not hospitalisation connected with my OC.

At the end of the day its your decision and you know how you feel and how much of a risk you are willing to take.

We made sure that we had enough credit on our cards to get us all booked on a flight back home if required. Fortunately nothing went wrong and we had a fantastic holiday!

Hope this helps

Brenda x

[kaza1]

thank you all for replys as regards cuba it really has helped me out xx