Can you fly when receiving chemo?

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Sandals
Sandals Member Posts: 104
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I don't mean the days when your blood count is low but the in between times?  I heard you couldn't but just wondering.

I'm due to start receiving chemo in early July and can't imagine not having a holiday before the end of the year!

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  • mary1220
    mary1220 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited May 2009

    I flew the day of last rad. but wore a surgical mask and used purex to keep germs down so I would not get sick. I would wait and see what days are good and how you feel before you pay for anything as everyone reacts different. The treatments kinda built up on me so each one was a little different than the one before. I planned a nice trip to my daughters across country for the last day of rads.which helped get through it all because I was looking forward to something special. I came home and started a year herceptin a few months later when it became available. Good Luck, Mary

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  • NatureGrrl
    NatureGrrl Member Posts: 1,367
    edited May 2009

    My SIL (in and out of chemo a couple of times, currently in chemo) travels all the time, all around and out of the country (went to N. Zealand recently and is in the Middle East right now), but she takes normal precautions.  I'm sure it's more up to you and how you feel (and what your oncologist recommends) than anything else.  My oncologist doesn't place any travel restrictions on me and just cautions me to be careful when my counts are low.  However, I have to admit, knowing what the first couple of treatments are like and how I've reacted, I won't plan any travel until I'm past the a/c... but if you feel good and want to go, enjoy!!  I would love to go sit on a mountain right now!

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  • swimfan
    swimfan Member Posts: 81
    edited May 2009

    I did a 2wk Europe trip in between CMF plus Zometa tx. If an extended trip, you might ask for an antibiotic to take with you just in case...I also did the "Airborne" thing on the flight and for the first time on a trip (even before chemo) I came back relatively healthy...

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  • mthomp2020
    mthomp2020 Member Posts: 1,959
    edited May 2009

    If your WBC counts are good, flying shouldn't be a problem.  Definitely check with your onc first.  If you're getting Neulasta after each tx, then there shouldn't be any problem.  When I was getting Neulasta, my counts never went down.

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  • Binney4
    Binney4 Member Posts: 8,609
    edited May 2009

    Hi, Paulsgirl,

    You might want to get a referral to a well-trained lymphedema therapist soon. S/he can do baseline measurements for future reference, give you some personalized lymphedema risk reduction tips, and fit you for a compression sleeve and glove to use when traveling, exercising, or for any stenuous activity.

    Lots of lymphedema risk reduction tips here (and it is worth taking some precautions to avoid this rotten conditionFrown):

    http://www.stepup-speakout.org/riskreduction_for_lymphedema.htm

    And here:

    http://www.lymphnet.org  (look for their Position Papers)

    Happy travels!
    Binney

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