Real advice from patients who’ve taken flights, cruises, and road trips after diagnosis.

In this episode of Breathe Strong, host Rachel Thomas reconnects with guests Charlie, Lesley, and Doug to explore what it’s like to travel after receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer or mesothelioma.

The discussion highlights personal travel stories, both local and international, and offers a wealth of practical advice. From navigating insurance challenges and securing airport assistance to packing smart and staying sun-safe, the episode is full of empowering tips and honest reflections.

Whether you’re planning a short getaway or a long-haul trip, this episode reminds us all that, with the right preparation, travel is still possible and deeply meaningful.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Plan ahead and protect yourself: Always carry a doctor’s letter listing your medications, research travel insurance early, and book flexible travel and accommodation to reduce stress in case plans change.
2. Small adaptations make a big difference: Use tools like flight socks, aisle seats, sunflower lanyards for hidden disabilities, and airport assistance to make the journey more comfortable and manageable.
3. Sun safety and medication awareness are essential: Cancer treatment can increase sun sensitivity, so pack SPF 50, wear a wide-brimmed hat, and check medication legality in your destination country, especially for opioids or controlled substances.

Follow & Subscribe

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow and subscribe to Breathe Strong wherever you get your podcasts. We’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more. Don’t miss our upcoming episodes filled with real stories, helpful advice, and support for people living with lung cancer or mesothelioma.

That's why I sort of talk about people's perception actually doesn't matter.

It took me a while to embrace is very much the wrong word, but understands that actually being a cancer patient, so you do need that little bit of extra help and you shouldn't feel judged because you need it.

Hello, welcome to Breathe Strong. I'm your host, Rachel.

BreatheStrong is a space for honest conversations, shared experiences and real stories from people living with lung cancer and mesothelioma and those who support them.

Before we begin, it's important to be clear that the conversations, stories and views shared within this podcast are based solely on personal experiences. They are not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and should not be relied upon as medical evidence or factual guidance.

Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical concerns or decisions related to your health and treatment. Thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy our podcast and find it beneficial.

Well, welcome to our episode two of our podcast, Breathe Strong.

You might remember that last time we talked about the impact of diagnosis, one of our patients has actually asked us and suggested a topic about holiday. So we all want to go on holiday. So I thought, what a great idea. So I'm delighted to say I'm joined again by Lesley, Charlie and Doug.

They're with me today.

So the feedback and comment from a patient was going on holiday can be very expensive due to insurance costs may be recovered if you've got a mesothelioma claim, but that's not the same for everybody, for sure. And looking about the logistics of going on holiday, where do you go on holiday? What hotel should you go in?

So I just wanted to open up our conversation today about holidays. Can we even go on holiday when we've been given a diagnosis, for instance?

So just to open up to my group here to see, have any of you been on holiday since you got diagnosed?

Absolutely, I have, yes.

As well.

We have, but we haven't been on an airplane. We have our own motorhome. So we've done mainly places in England and Wales where we've never been before. So that's.

Yeah, we try and get away, you know, at least once a month.

Oh, lovely.

And it used to be, obviously, fitting it in between the three weeks for your treatment, so we could only go, but since I don't have treatment anymore, we. We go for longer periods. And next year we're hoping to go to France for a month and maybe twiddle down to Spain.

And if it comes into six weeks, then six weeks it is.

Brilliant, Brilliant. And has anyone been? Any of you been abroad?

I have. So actually, so this year I went to Malta. A friend got married in Malta this year and I went to Portugal.

So right before my chemotherapy was starting. And now we're talking about the insurance side of things. So for me, through my work, I have private health care.

So I made a point of calling them before my first holiday to Malta just to see if I was covered because obviously the private healthcare was taken out before diagnosis. They said yes, I was absolutely covered for all of it. The only thing that they said to be careful of was if I was sort of really poorly in traveling.

So I guess end of life really then.

Right.

But no, absolutely covered for my holidays. So is it maybe a bit different for me because I've got that private health care?

Okay, all right, yeah.

I'm almost slightly jealous because I phoned my private healthcare provider, which I fortunately have via my wife's employment scheme. They won't cover me on holiday.

I've phoned my travel insurance companies that I've got, you know, connected with my bank accounts and things like that. They won't cover me for cancer while traveling. What they will cover, though, is normal holiday insurance type claims.

So essentially it's cause and effect for my policies. So for example, if I lose my hand baggage or my luggage, that's covered. If I break my leg, that's covered under my policy whilst I'm traveling.

What wouldn't be covered is if I had a cancer related problem whilst traveling. So I don't have an example right now to give you, but ultimately, and I even went, I had a very long conversation with my insurance team.

I got all the way back to the claims assessors in the background.

And essentially because of my pulmonary embolisms, my blood clots, when I was diagnosed, I'm on anticoagulation treatment, so blood thinning treatment. And ultimately I even went down to the. Well, I might have a more complicated leg break, but would you cover that? And they said yes.

So it's cause and effect. If I break my leg falling off a curb, I'm still covered.

Okay, but it sounds like you had to do quite a bit of investigative work.

Very much so. So I'm almost as slightly lucky. My job at work is connected with understanding insurance policies slightly in the military.

And so I kind of knew to really dig down into my policy to understand what was and wasn't covered. But the long and short of it is I generally get a cancer insurance policy now.

And I have to say they're expensive but the flip side of that is if I was to have a problem overseas, that would be horrifically expensive and potentially even inhibit me getting home. So it is worth it.

Yeah.

But.

Yes, yeah, something to think about. But. But it's not stopped you going on holiday though.

Absolutely not. And I'm, I'm. For those of you listening, I'm giving a cheeky smile at the moment to Rachel.

My diagnosis has given us a really different outlook on life. We've really prioritised differently. Prior to diagnosis, me and my wife were really, work came first, life came second, now we're the opposite.

Opportunity comes first. And we have absolutely embraced traveling. And I mentioned in episode one, actually my targeted treatment allows us I can take it worldwide.

And we were actually, this time last year we'd just traveled to New Zealand for a six week holiday. So I, I really have traveled long haul, short haul flights, etc. And yeah, absolutely live for today.

Brilliant.

I'm. Yeah, I, I feel exactly the same. Definitely live for today, not for tomorrow, because you don't know. Nobody knows what's going to happen tomorrow.

Do we want to know?

No. Do you want to know? Exactly. Exactly.

Now, wake up in the morning, flex your arms if you don't feel any wood. Got another day.

Brilliant.

Really?

Definitely. I've got a little bit of advice if people are traveling though, if that's, if that's hopeful. So a couple of bits.

As I say, my job at work is basically administration, realistically on behalf of the British army, so used to moving 600 people at a time, but ultimately travelling with cancer. So a couple of really key bits. One is as simple as going to your doctor and getting a letter to say what drugs you're on and that they're prescribed.

Two, keep your drugs in your hand baggage, don't put them in the luggage. The reason being if your luggage gets lost and you're stuck overseas without your prescriptive drugs, you've got a real problem.

So definitely carry them in hand luggage. Three, this is more the practical side of actually travelling. Cancer patients are at higher risk of having thrombosis or blood clots. Lots.

So when you're actually traveling, think about your hydration. So make sure you're drinking water, keep well hydrated. Also keep moving around.

So whether you want a train, a coach or a plane, actually at higher altitude you're at higher risk, but equally sitting still, you're at high risk. So make sure that you do take those breaks. You know the signs on the motorway saying stop every couple of hours. Believe Them.

As a cancer patient, we're at higher risk of a lot of things. So make sure you take the time to move around, keep mobile, hydrate, move, and lower your risk of DVT or blood clots.

So maybe one of the things you could think about even is, you know, if you're going to be drinking more on a plane, for instance, and you're stuck in that, that seat by the window, you've got to keep saying to people, can I get out? Can I get out? Sit on an aisle seat. And then you can, you know, yeah.

Yes, I always have the aisle seat. Now I'm wearing socks as well.

Yeah.

As uncomfortable as they are, it's worth it.

It's worth it.

Lower every risk you can once you've got them on. Getting them on is the problem.

And getting them off, actually.

And they're not that comfortable, are they?

They really aren't. I know they're not at all. But it's. But, you know, it is worth it. Definitely.

I think. Definitely. One thing I would, I would say to people is put everyone. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks about you.

So when you're putting your flight socks on or whatever you're wearing, be comfortable. Don't wear tight clothing other than your flight socks. But, you know, all of those things. Make sure you're comfortable.

Make sure you're putting your health first. Don't worry about what you look like and don't worry about people. You know, people's perception, it doesn't matter. Staying as healthy as you can.

That goes for every day. I mean, I, Yeah, I haven't got them on today, but I've normally just got my joggy bottoms and attracts.

You haven't got your flight socks?

No, I haven't. Funny enough.

I also, when I've. The last couple, I've.

Well, the, the two times I've flown this year is I've actually had assistance at the airport as well because I've generally been traveling on my own. And even though I'm.

I'm actually going away at the end of this month, even though I don't feel like I need it, I'm still going to get it this time as well.

How did you do that?

Well, you just book it through your airline. So just because you can get assistance, that means you don't have to stand in.

In line when you're going through security because sometimes that can take forever. Oh, yeah, the sun. Yeah, that's the sunflower.

Yeah.

Oh, wow. Okay.

Yeah. So sunflower lanyard is basically, I Think it's a charity in the background?

It is, yes.

But ultimately, sunflower. The sunflower emblem is for hidden disabilities. So it's like that.

Yeah. Wow.

Well, they'll give you. Once. I know that I've flown from. From Gatwick a couple of times now, and they give you a buzzer to be back at the allotted place where they.

Where they'll take you to the plane. They give you. The buzzer's got a Sunflower lanyard on it.

O.

You can wear it around your neck if you want to, but.

But yes, I think that's very useful because, you know, you get very tired and the walking between the actual terminal to your plane can be sometimes about 15, 20 minutes, can't it? So, yeah, it's worth getting that assistance.

Do they give you. Can you get access to, you know, like, the little buggies you see people flying through?

Yes.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You do the little. You do the wave as you're going past everybody.

Yes, while we're. While we're talking about that. Because I know for a while it took me. That's why I sort of talk about people's perception, actually. Doesn't matter.

It took me a while to. And embrace is very much the wrong word.

But understand that actually being a cancer patient, so you do need that little bit of extra help and you shouldn't feel judged because you need it. And this lanyard, for example, helps me. So I'm quite happy to walk through. I can pick my bags up, I can do all of that stuff.

I'm still relatively fit and healthy.

But even just being able to sit in the disability seats, the Sunflower lanyard stops you being asked why you're there, because as a relatively young person, still, I feel judged. And I've been asked sometimes by. I'm not going to say older people, it doesn't have to be older people, but I've been asked sometimes to move.

Whereas actually now I put the Sunflower lanyard on, I'm not. And it's just little bits like that where you. You know, it just makes life a little bit easier.

And where did you get the lanyard from? How did you get them?

You can get them online, can't you?

Yeah.

There's also a badge that TFL does which says, please give up your seat, which I. Which is what I've got. You can apply for it. It doesn't cost you anything.

And I found that really, really useful because I'm still going to work every day and sometimes you get really tired and you don't want to be standing. So make sure it's. It's a bit like the ladies who are pregnant says, baby on board.

But this one actually says, please give up your seat or will you please give up your seat?

Yeah.

And most generally I think they do.

Even if you, you know, you haven't got your badge on. We found that we do travel, when we do travel on the underground, you know, if you're standing there hanging onto the railing for dear life, some.

Somebody will get up and give you a seat. Yeah, most people are very good but as you say, they don't realize the hidden disability.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, yeah.

The other bits and pieces I found quite useful, which is while we're in this space is macmillan, do a couple of bits and the bit I'm holding up again doesn't go very well on the podcast. But I' holding up a credit card size card that basically says due to my cancer treatment, I need urgent access to a toilet. Please can you help?

I have, I have one of those as well.

I haven't got one, but I have got a carsi key, as I call it.

Yeah, yeah, I've got that one as well.

Yeah, the radar key.

Radar key.

All of these you can get online. So clearly the macmillan card comes from macmillan. And the radar key, again, Google radar key. I think it costs about a fiverr as well. Yeah.

Oh, wow, that's really good advice.

Yeah. Other pharmacies are available, I must say.

Yeah. Other charities are guest.

That's really helpful to know though, because, you know, we often think going on holiday, you think about when you actually get on holiday, but actually it's about all making sure you're all comfortable before you even.

It's actually getting to. Getting to the airport or getting to your destination, really.

Yeah. Think through your journey ultimately.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I, I was thinking, because I'm going away again, going away at the end of the year, I was thinking, well, do, do I drive my car to the airport or do I just get a taxi and just. Even those things, just planning ahead, just get a taxi. Just get a taxi. Yeah, exactly. Just taking, taking that pressure off yourself.

Yeah, yeah.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way around. If you're going to a country that doesn't speak English or English isn't the first language, what you might also want to do is.

So my treatment, one of the side effects is sometimes very short gut transit time and diarrhea. And I got caught short, but luckily made it to a toilet.

Think through before you go Using Google Translate and literally I've genuinely typed this into Google Translate of the I have cancer, I need to use your toilet. And Google translated it into the language and, and it really, I was very close to.

Where did you get that card?

So this card is from Macmillan.

Oh, macmillan.

Yeah, yeah.

But ult that bit about. Yeah, if you're going to a foreign country, they won't recognize this or.

That's right.

And I genuinely, I mean the restaurant were brilliant but it, I was, I was at the point of hot sweating like I'm being very open here. But yeah. And I just made it.

Gosh, you just don't think about these things, do you?

I mean I think as somebody that doesn't have cancer, I mean I worry about going to the airport and getting parks, I'm rubbish at finding car parks and just no sense of direction. But I don't, I don't have to worry about anything else. And you just. For me talking to my patients, I don't. This, this is really helpful.

It's not things that I would have thought about.

Well, clearly on this occasion I hadn't thought of that myself, hence why I'm sharing. But yeah, it's just those little bits. Definitely.

And if, you know, if you've got an early flight in the morning, stay at the airport the night before, you know, just all of those little things just take the pressure off yourself.

Yeah, we, we used to do that even before this.

Yeah.

When we went abroad.

Did any of you tell your doctors that you were going on holiday or planning holidays?

Yes, yes.

Yeah.

I haven't been abroad since, so.

So you've been away?

Yeah, yeah. In this country. But then with the motorhome I don't need to find a toilet.

But have you, did you tell your doctor, did you feel.

Because it would take me a fortnight to get an appointment to see them. They're absolutely terrible. I'm afraid.

I had to, I had to ask mine when I finished my chemo or just before my last chemo session, I asked mine if I would be okay to go on holiday and I said where I was going and it was going to be like an 11 hour flight and he said, you know, because, because I guess I'm fit and healthy. He said absolutely, you'd be absolutely fine to do that.

And he very nicely had says he won't, he didn't want to give me a scan before my holiday so I don't have to worry about it as well, which was very nice of him.

That's actually a bit of key information when you're doing holiday insurance. So yeah, the scans.

So my experience is if you're in the middle of just the way it works basically with travel insurance, if you're in the middle of waiting for some results, clearly to the holiday insurance company we're higher risk because depending on what those results are, may depend on whether you go on your holiday or not, and holiday insurance to be effective, you need to take it out when you book the holiday, not just before you travel and it's that interim period of booking the holiday and getting on the flight. So we all think holiday insurance is about when we're in the country we're traveling to, but actually it covers you for cancellations.

And the problem if you had a scan, you're waiting on results, then there's a higher risk of those results clearly coming back and telling you something and you don't go on holiday, so it starts to put your premiums up.

Right.

So, and, and this literally in my journey for New Zealand, I, I basically had about an eight hour period at one point where I could have got holiday insurance. Clearly I missed it because I didn't know something else was coming. And then I got, I had a bowel polyp on a PET scan.

So we'd booked our holiday, I was trying to get holiday insurance, waited. So we had the oncology appointment, we had the scan results coming back and I was expecting it to be about, you know, the lung cancer.

And the PET scan doesn't just show cancer, it can show areas of activity in cells and on this particular occasion it was a bowel polyp. But of course that's another investigation.

And so I had to wait for the bowel polyp to be investigated, then for it to be biopsied and then to get those results back, which basically took 10 weeks. That's 10 weeks.

I could have got travel insurance in those 10 weeks if I'd have tried, but it would have cost me a significant amount of money because it's risk versus the cost of the holiday. And in the end we got the results.

In fact, thinking through the dates, we got the results on the Wednesday for the biopsy and we flew on the Saturday and this was our six week trip to New Zealand. So it was a high risk, high reward strategy to wait.

But yeah, so, so yes, if you're listening to this and you're in a, in a lull and you've had your scans, you haven't got anything going on and you know you've got a holiday, get your holiday insurance Book now.

Right, okay. Just one of the things that I know some patients have said to me.

I've had a couple of phone calls actually from patients trying to book holiday insurance and the. And the company's asking if they've got a terminal diagnosis. Is that anything if you come across that. Because that's caused quite a bit of distress.

Yeah, I have come across it.

And.

It'S now this interesting period of. Because there's been so much fantastic movement in research and treatments.

You've got stage four patients with technically an incurable disease, but that doesn't mean we're terminal.

So we were talking earlier about, yes, I do speak to my GP and I very specifically speak to my oncologist if I know I've got a large trip coming up and I make sure that one, he's happy I'm traveling and two, he writes it in my after visit letter so that from the oncology team I've got. As long as he is happy. He basically writes, I can't remember the words, I'll look them up later.

But ultimately he says he does not use the words fit to fly. But. But ultimately he gives me the, you're okay to travel in writing.

And my oncologist has said the same. You know, he says, he goes, look, you won't be, you probably won't be asked for it. But he goes, I'm happy to write it for you.

Okay. Okay. Well, that's helpful to know. Yeah.

And as you say, it's actually triggering for cancer patients to get the, have you been given a terminal diagnosis? I know various charities are working in the background with cancer insurance holiday companies and it's.

I get it from the insurance point of view because again, it's that risk of how likely is it this person's going to have a problem. But as a person now with stage four, I tend to go with the, it's incurable, but I'm under treatment and currently stable.

Okay.

It tends to change the terminology.

That's interesting you say that, Charlie, because I had a patient who rang me up saying that they'd been asked that question, they'd been asked the question about how likely do they think it is that they may become end of life in the next sort of six to eight weeks. And I'm like, how can you ask somebody that ridiculous. Yeah. It is so good to have your advice there.

Yeah. And I think it's important if that's what you're getting from that particular company, pass that back to your oncology nurses. Pass it.

If you have any form of charitable support for your diagnosis, anything, pass it back.

Because I know I work for a cancer charity in the background, and it's one of the things that we actually strategically work with is trying to change the narrative, trying to change the questionnaire that cancer patients at the front end get asked. Because, like I say, that's triggering and it really is triggering.

Yeah, I could imagine it must be very distressing to ask that.

One of the things that you talked about, Charlie, which I found good, was the advice about taking your letter with you, one of your clinic letters, with your treatment on. One of the experiences I had with one of my lung cancer patients was she went on holiday and to this tiny little island in Greece.

But I'd given her strict instructions. She had to go with all her clinical notes. She got really ill on that holiday.

She was ill, literally shortly after getting off the plane, ended up in this tiny village hospital. But they, at the time, it was faxing, they faxed the hospital I worked at and said, oh, we've got your patient here. And she's on.

It was immunotherapy. She's on immunotherapy and she's coming with these side effects.

And between the hospital that was her treatment hospital and that tiny Greek island hospital, they treated her and got her better. But they wouldn't have been able to do that if she hadn't had that letter.

Yeah.

And it's things like your, you know, for example, for me, it's. My NHS number is on the letters. The doctor's details are on that letter. So I get my.

This particular letter I'm talking about, I get it from my GP surgery, because it's. When you're carrying drugs between different countries and sometimes it may be worth checking that that drug is okay in that country.

So, for example, if, you know, you're on a opioid pain relief, so if you're on certain pain reliefs, they may not be legal in other countries. So it's worth speaking to your care team to find out.

That's. Yeah, that's very useful, actually.

Yeah.

Because I usually just print off all the medications that I've got from, like, my GP surgery and also from my chart, because I use my chart. But, yeah, it's worth knowing about. I will do my research on that.

That's.

That's good advice.

Yeah.

Yeah. And definitely Doug, in his motorhome, doesn't need to worry about that.

No, I don't.

You just go and enjoy yourself in the UK.

Yeah. Well, we've done 43 different countries.

Oh, wow.

You know, you know, before. Been our before life before COVID Oh, okay.

So.

B.C.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

B.C.

Yeah, yeah. Would you say it was covert that put a stop on you?

Yeah, probably originally, yeah. And then of course, this happened. But, yeah, we've done. We've done New Zealand as well. It's a lovely country, but we've.

We've done a lot of long haul. India, China, Japan.

So you kind of feel that Cuba. You've. You've done.

Yeah, I think so. Well, actually, before Kovi came in. Excuse me. In the November, we were in India and we had a.

We took out a year's visa because it was easier than keep messing about because we were going to go back in the May, the next year. But then, of course, Covid came in and that India trip was our last one. We haven't been back since. But I'm not that keen on flying anyway.

Okay.

So. And actually the original oncologist said, don't fly, it's extra pressure on your lungs, and it's this and that.

But I always had a cough whenever I got on a plane or came off of a plane. So I thought, is it worth the risk?

It's interesting you say about the don't fly advice, because I know originally when I was diagnosed again because I had active blood clots, the advice has got better.

So for those getting diagnosed now, where you are now and where you are in a few months time and not necessarily the same place, things that the dial can come up. Unfortunately, it can also go down, but the dial can come up. So when I was first diagnosed, I couldn't go to altitude. So the flight, once the.

The blood clots had cleared and I got, you know, they're clear. I've remained on treatment because they may come back. But actually, ironically, that helps them when I am flying.

So ironically, I'm potentially less risk of a blood clot on a plane than actually normal passengers. But, yeah, it's that interesting. Slight nuance, too, but when you're diagnosed, you'll get told some things. If it's.

If it's crucial to you to go traveling, keep speaking to your oncology team. I don't mean bug them, but situations change.

So keep talking to your care team because believe me, they will also want you to be living your life to the full. So, yeah. And as I say, the story changes as the diagnosis. It doesn't always go down. It can come up.

Yeah. And I think it's about having that hope, isn't it?

If you're a person that likes to go on holiday and that's something that you've done before cancer came along. To be able to have that feeling that actually I will go on holiday again.

I might not be able to go right now, as you said, Charlie, but I will be able to go at some point and I can go safely and it'll be all right.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah.

Just helpful to be able to have that.

Don't know whether this is helpful to talk about now or not, but I know, I say I know I speak to other cancer patients as well and it's really interesting because I will be open and honest. I've gone on lots of travel since my diagnosis.

One of the worst periods for me is immediately before I travel because something inevitably changes and I don't know whether that's so. For example, that bowel polyp was immediately before our lifetime trip to New Zealand. I've had various other things.

I ended up in A and E in August when we were about to fly again.

And it just tends to be, I think, think potentially because the stress of a trip is coming up, it sort of gets on top and you're looking to make sure you are fit to fly because there's almost that kind of personal stress of, oh, my God, am I, you know, that self doubt, am I fit to leave the country? But it's way outweighed for me by still being able to actually enjoy once you're there.

And so I just sort of give that as if someone's at home, because, as I say, I know certain patients that I've chat to won't book something because they're scared it doesn't happen. Whereas I kind of go, well, there's always a risk it might not happen, but if you don't book it, it definitely won't happen.

So try and live your life as normally as you can, but be aware and risk mitigate, take those precautions. Book the holiday insurance, please, and speak to your med team.

And I booked my flights. This time I paid the extra and I booked flexible flights. Flexible, so that if I had to cancel, I'll get all my money back.

Okay, that's good to know because I think sometimes patients, you know, when you get a diagnosis of lung cancer or mesothelioma, they're scared about the future and especially if they're thinking about booking a fabulous trip.

But it's not till the following year or six, six months later, there's all that angst, as you were saying, about am I going to be able to go, what's the future going to look like in six months time? So having flexible flying must help take some of that worry away.

Yeah, absolutely. Because then it's thinking you're spending a lot of money anyway on the flight because you sort of, you want to make it as comfortable as you can.

But it's like you said, something at last minute might happen. And also, you know, with hotels and things, I've booked ones that can be canceled at the last minute.

So everything is, you know, I've sort of, I've covered my bases basically.

It's definitely worth that little bit extra up front.

Absolutely.

I get it. Cancer's bloody expensive, genuinely it is bloody expensive so to travel with cancer. But it's like you say, it just removes some of that stress.

So if you are able to do bits like that. And I would say I've actually had one long haul flight I could not make.

I was due to go to a friend's wedding in South Africa in Easter and actually I had surgery instead. And when I spoke to the airline that I'd booked my tickets through and explained the situation, they were absolutely brilliant.

They stopped my flight, put the money that I'd paid for the flight on one side, so. And basically gave me a code. And this was for me and my wife's flight, not just mine. So we put the money on hold ultimately.

And then once I was fit to fly, I re contacted the same company and they rebooked the flights and actually I didn't even have to go back to the same destination because clearly I was traveling to a wedding. The wedding had happened, we were able to redivert to a destination we wanted to.

So in a way it's better to be up front and tell everyone, which is those conversations.

Yeah, definitely.

I did have to share a doctor's letter, but yes, ultimately. So certainly tell the truth. Yeah, yeah.

And when you get on your holiday, do you. Was there anything that you found different about being on holiday?

I don't know, you know, did you have to be careful about being out in the sun, for instance, or, you know, drinking alcohol and you know, what, what's been different, would you say?

The.

Definitely the sun. I used to be. I love being in the sun and I used to tan really, really easily.

Whereas now since I've been having treatment, my skin's really, really sensitive in the sun. So, you know, wear the factor 50, 30, 50. Make sure if you're going to a sunny destination, make sure you've got a hat on. Just. Yeah, just be.

I Mean, all the things that you should do anyway, regardless of whether you're ill or not. But, yeah, just. Just be. And not go out in the midday sun. You know, all of the mad dogs and Englishmen. Exactly, yes. But all of the.

Sit in the bar instead.

It's in the bar instead. Yeah, yeah. I mean, glamorous wife, rimmed hat. Yeah, I've got a few of. I have got a few of those dripping, in fact.

A 50.

Yeah, yeah, it is dripping. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Literally, I'm the same as you now. Absolutely.

They're realistically precautions that we should all take in the sun, but when you've got cancer or you've had cancer, you really pay attention to it because. Yeah, those UV rays. So wide brim hats. Absolutely. Factor 50, just.

And I'm someone that also tans quite easily and I still do, actually, so I still pick up a tan.

Just takes a bit longer now.

Well, and also, it's not my.

No, it doesn't matter, does it? No.

And it's not my aim when I'm on holiday. So that's the bit. If you are a sun worshiper, just. You might. You might want to rethink that, ultimately.

Yeah.

Whereas for me, it's about. I want to be active and so taking precautions while I'm. You know, I love the water, absolutely love the water.

But as you say, actually, one of the things to think through is if you don't swim or spend a lot of time in water in the uk, and if one of the side effects of your treatment might be skin conditions, make sure you've got precautionary cream with you.

So, again, if you speak to your GP or your lung cancer nurse specialists, they might be able to advise you on stuff to take with you in case you have a problem. So, yeah, definitely think through what you're going to be doing on holiday and what you might want to mitigate with.

Yeah.

And it sounds like you're all saying that talking to your oncologist and your lung cancer nurse has been really helpful and something that you would absolutely advise.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Especially the creams. I mean, I use them every day anyway because of me itchy bits. Yeah. And they are. I mean, I. I've had a couple of BCCs removed, one on there.

I've just had one on my back last week or on my side here. And I'm not really a sun worshiper. I very rarely take my shirt off, you know, and. But you should.

Yeah.

Before I go out in the garden, I lather up yeah, yeah.

Even in this country.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And the sun don't have to be strong.

No, it doesn't, it doesn't.

It comes through them clouds.

Yeah.

I've got a. I've got a particular smartwatch and it tells me what the UV levels are and you'd be absolutely amazed.

I've got a smart watch, it tells me the time.

But also your.

Your phones, when you look at the weather apps on your phone, one of the things is generally a uv and it changes clearly where, wherever you are in the world. So if you're looking like you say, actually the uk, the UV in the uk, you do still need to take some protection.

Yeah, but we're getting hotter here, aren't we, in the uk?

I wear a hat here a lot more than I used to, actually. In the summer, I was wearing a hat all the time.

Okay. And any other sort of things that you think are important? I mean, we've come up with some really good stuff.

Anything else that you think might be important for patients to consider if they're going on holiday? Any suggestions that you may have or experiences that you want to share?

No, I think what Charlie was saying about the. Your drugs, because a lot of countries, you can't. You can't take opiates into them.

Yeah.

And if you're on medication, that's got that, you know, you've got to speak to your team and. And get something different if you can.

Yeah.

Or take a risk, different destination.

Yeah. Maybe you want to end up in some prison like Jones did.

No.

And it does happen.

Yes.

Yeah. Gosh, yeah.

I mean, genuine people. Yeah. You know, you've just gone there and you know you've got a bag of something in your. Or a little packet of tablets in your bag.

It don't take long. And they just don't understand, do they? A lot of the foreign countries.

No, no. And they don't have. Quite a few of the countries, particularly Asian countries, don't have. Have the same treatments that we have in this country.

So, you know, again, they wouldn't understand that, would they?

No.

Okay.

I think there's also bits that it's worth thinking about. So, for example. And again, other drugs are available, but taking precautions.

So, like the cream taking with you, you might not need it here, but you might need it overseas. So things like dehydration tablets, if your medication allows you to take them. So, no, I actually really can't because of the anticoagulants.

But if you haven't got that problem, you might want to take. I'm trying to think what they are rehydration tablets so dioralite, etc.

Yeah.

As I say other you take your electrolytes. Yeah, electrolytes.

Thank you. Yeah, the electrolytes with you. I've just got. I've got the little sachets that you can take with you.

Okay.

Which yeah. And I'm sort of going to do the same with like collagen little sachets as well. Just take look a.

Making little things like that which are, you know, which I'm sure things like that will be fine to take everywhere.

And paracetamol and low paramide and things. So Imodium ultimately brand name but yeah, bits like that. Because when you're stuck in a foreign country you might not be near a pharmacy.

There may be language barriers, et cetera and just whatever you feel you might need. I mean sounds like I take a medicine case.

I don't but it's you know, thinking through that, just making it so that you can actually enjoy your holiday, really.

Prepare for the worst.

Yeah. You don't want to be worried about.

Bringing all the extra bits and pieces with you so you can have a good holiday.

Yeah, yeah, brilliant.

Be over prepared I think.

Okay, great advice everyone. Well I hope you've all found that very useful and beneficial. I've certainly learned things myself about holidays.

So we're going to end there and say say goodbye and invite you to join us back for episode three and yeah, see you later. Bye.

Thank you.

Bye.

Thanks everyone.