Travel while on Chemo?

Hi!

I traveled during chemo. I visited my parents in CT and their lake house in MA. I didn't get sick. During chemo, it helps to keep a diary of side effects and to see whether there are any patterns. For me, infusion day was Wednesday, and I felt fine because I was pumped up on steroids (part of the pre-meds). By Friday, though the steroid fog was starting to lift, and I began to feel less energetic. I crashed during the weekend, but by Monday, I was feeling more like my old self.

Are you getting Neulasta shots the day after your infusions? Neulasta is supposed to boost your white cell production and thus your immune system. I worked through chemo and I only got sick once, from a stomach virus my sons brought home from school (whole family got it).

Best of luck!

I think what you are planning is not realistic. Firstly, is this travel within your own country or overseas. If overseas it is unlikely you will be able to get travel insurance. Personally, if I can't get travel insurance I don't travel. Secondly, it is possible you will be perfectly fine and able to travel but you won't know until you have completed a cycle and worked out when you feel well and when you don't. Complications can arise at any time and change your plans at a moments notice.

I felt unwell for a few days after the first type of chemo which was AC and a week after the second type which was Taxol. I was getting dose dense which was every two weeks. By the time I felt better it would take me the next week to get on top of the house, groceries, kids and medical appointments just in time for the next treatment.

Camping in itself would be fine unless you are permanently attached to the toilet or so wiped out you can't lift your head off the pillow in which case you would be more comfortable at home. Like others I doubt your oncologist would permit a cruise due to the germs but that would depend on your neutrophil levels which you wouldn't know until the time so a bit difficult to plan ahead.

I managed to arrange my chemo schedule around some work/fun travel that I really wanted to attend. I had 4 T/C treatments, 3 weeks apart. The third week post treatment was the best for travel time for me. Of course, that meant that my hair fell out while I was at a conference-Awkward! Your energy level may not be what you would like it to be between chemos. Keep that in mind. I would be less worried about camping than I would be about travel in any common carrier. I did not fly until I was done with chemo.

Good luck!!

I personally wouldn't go anywhere during chemo. If you develop an infection, you need to get to the hospital FAST, and you're better off at the hospital where you're being treated. I did develop an infection after my 3rd treatment, and my husband had to take me to the ER late one night. I really would not recommend a cruise. Too many germs, and if you get sick they might have to send a helicopter in to get you off the ship (I was on a cruise some years ago where they had to do that for someone who became ill). It isn't easy to land a helicopter on a ship and it costs a lot of money. It will probably be very difficult and expensive to obtain trip insurance when you're in treatment for BC. As for camping, if it's close to home I might consider if it is two weeks after treatment, but you usually feel pretty sick the week following. I also experienced severe diarrhea, and I would not want to deal with that while camping. I would also avoid planes and theme parks due to exposure to germs.

I know that all this sucks, and you don't want to miss out. Could you delay treatment until after these trips? When I was diagnosed, my doc asked if we had any vacation to work around before she scheduled surgery. She assured me tha a couple of months would not make a difference in outcome.

Travel? I had a hard time just getting off the sofa. Terribly fatigued. All food tasted horrible, I truly thought my tastebuds would never be normal again. The steroids made me short tempered and I had the chemo brain fog. I was miserable. I would have one "good" week every cycle, which was still anxiety filled because I knew what was coming. I hope things go better for you, but I wouldn't plan a lot of activities that you'll feel bad about if you can't participate. Most will agree, round 4 is the absolute worst round. Its when I begged my MO to stop. He reduced the dose for the next two rounds and things got better. The effects of chemo are cumulative, it gets a little harder each round.

You will want to avoid crowds and germs. My MO didn't want me eating any fresh fruit or vegatables. You are at risk for illnesses that your body can normally fight off. You don't want to complicate or delay your treatments because of another illness.

I'm not writing this to scare you. You'll get through chemo, but you need to be able to focus on you, your needs. Sleep when you need to sleep, eat what you can eat. As wives and moms, its not something we do well, but for a few months let others take care of you so that your body can heal. My husband was my rock.

I worked my full time job at an elementary school through eight rounds of chemo and was fine. Tired some days but did not get sick. Also traveled from TX to KY by plane during my Spring Break and again during the summer.

As others have said, you just don't know how you will feel until you have been through a round, and if you have more than one kind of chemo you might have a different set of side effects. I would hesitate to go on a cruise because I would not want to be that far away from medical care

I was pretty fatigued for about 10 days after each chemo. The next 10 days I had pretty good energy. I did not travel during the 4 months of chemo, because I had 2 episodes of high fever that sent me to the ER and 1 episode of sepsis, which could have killed me. That made a believer out of me.

I did however go in the car up to the place where our camper is parked. There is a good hospital there and our camper has all necessities of home, so I could cook my own food and sleep in my own bed and have all my own stuff around me.

Honestly? I would not go to Lego Land during chemo. Amusement parks are full of little germ vectors (ie., children) who drool, sneeze, cough, and vomit. And it doesn't much matter if you wash your hands because they aren't washing THEIR hands. Kids touch everything! I've seen plenty of idiot parents bring kids with flu, stomach bugs, even chicken pox to these places!

I'd definitely skip the cruise, for all of the above reasons. If you get really sick, you may be forced to go to a hospital in a foreign port which may or may not be able to give you appropriate care.

My MO had me severely limit time in crowded places. I went to bible study but not church. I stayed out of malls and did 100% of the Christmas shopping online. I only went places in my car, never planes, taxis, or subways. Maybe if I hadn't had those 3 episodes it would have been different. I don't know. Nobody knows who is going to get really sick and who won't.