After your Operation

When ‘they’ say, Take a Holiday

One thing every Consultant, Doctor and Nurse says when you finish treatment is, “take a holiday”.

But they don’t answer questions  -

• Can I fly?
• How far should I travel?
• Will I get tired?  etc.
• How do I get insurance?  etc.
• What if I fall ill abroad?
• What can I eat?

See answers to these and other questions on this website.

Basically – and this is my non-medical answer (so please don’t take it as definite) – if you feel up to it, and YOU don’t have any doubts – GO!  But only you know if you have those doubts in your mind, so if you do have them, listen and take your doctor’s advice.

And if your doctor definitely says NO – don’t go against their advice.

Here are some places to go and have fun, combining the European way of a holiday with a medical spa break.

N.B I say ‘medical’; in Britain we tend to let pampering spas slide under the ‘Medi’ title – but they are not the same.  Make sure if you want and need genuine spa treatments, ask before you book – or you could end up with the British spa that, under the heading ‘Our medical team’  offers Tarot Card Expert!

TAKING A BREAK

When you first venture out into the ‘real’ world, after treatment, you need answers to questions before you feel confident to go off on holiday.

• Can I fly?
• Can I go out in the sun?
• What about diet?
• Where can I find reasonably-priced travel insurance after illness?
• And biggest fear of all ‘what happens if I get ill whilst I am away?’ This probably won’t happen, but you are emotionally low and afraid of the slightest sneeze.

Can I fly?

The short answer is probably yes – but best to keep to short haul.  Your doctor should explain the problems and risks associated with flying, from standing in long queues before you board your plane, sitting cramped in a seat without enough leg room, and what most forget – dehydration from the air in the plane’s cabin.

Long haul flights are probably a no-no for the time being. Not only because of the perceived risks, such as possible DVT complications, but also because your body is going to be in a fragile state. Doctors specialising in aviation medicine say a rule-of-thumb for jet lag is that the body needs one day to recover for each hour spent crossing a time zone in an aircraft. There is even more data coming out about this, often supressed by the tourism industry as they don’t want you to be put off.

So travel by all means, but try and go somewhere near by – either in Britain or in Europe. Trains have just got better and better, they can be surprisingly comfortable, especially if you are at all unsteady on your feet, and really to be recommended instead of a car journey.

And take advantage of their Assistance teams;  these are excellent, in my experience actually do meet you at the platform right by your carriage, and are incredibly helpful.  It is always a problem what to do about tipping – but I generally offer between £1 – £5 (in local or British currency) with a “do have a drink on me”.

Can I go out in the sun?

The answer is yes – warmth and heat are good for you, but be very, very cautious in sunlight – and this means watching that the sun’s rays don’t reflect off a shiny surface such as concrete, as well as the sea. You can be sitting under an umbrella and still be burnt.

Whenever you go out, wear a high factor suncream (see Watch that Sun!) and renew it frequently, especially each time you come out of the water.

What about diet?

Nutritionists will probably tell you the Mediterranean diet is the best you can eat.  We tend to eat more fruit and vegetables when on holiday, so as long as you are careful, peel fruit, don’t have ice cubes in your drinks, and watch you don’t drink too much – you will be fine.

Where can I find reasonably-priced travel insurance for post cancer patients?

See under Insurance in right hand column.

What happens if I get ill again whilst away?

This probably won’t happen, but after treatment you are emotionally low, and the slightest sneeze has you worrying about your health. This is normal; your body is at a low and your immune system is shot to pieces. If you go on holiday you are more likely to be relaxed, and when you have something to look forward to you tend to think “I’ll sort out that sniffle later on” and of course you soon forget!

However, if you are going on holiday, do as the Continentals do and go to a properly-approved medical spa. We think of spas as places where OAPs sit with bottles of pills on the table, with a nasty smell of mineral waters wafting around.

But Europeans aren’t so stupid. Remember it was the Romans who believed in baths – sadly when they left Britain we forgot about this sensible habit, and it took nearly two thousands years to return. But on the Continent they have been taking the waters all this time, and their sophisticated patients take it as a natural thing to ask their doctor to recommend a suitable spa (sometimes they can even get help with costs from their health service (NHS – are you listening?).

France, Germany, Italy, etc. have spas that specialise in different post-operation treatment – even down to different spas that treat different cancers, such as Aix-les-Bains for throat and mouth cancers, La Roche Posay who can help with skin side effects from hormonal drugs, Klinic Bad Sulza, etc. The only thing that will spoil your holiday waiting for your therapist to give you a wonderful, targeted massage – is to find sitting next to you is a local who is getting it for free on their health service!

And every spa has marvellous sport and recreation facilities, so you won’t see your family as they take off paragliding, canoeing, swimming in fantastic pools, or just enjoy the sun sitting in a café.

You are doing your long-term health a favour by tapping in to the Continental health system. Just about every European country has a better lifetime survival rate than us – e.g. France is usually top of list for post-cancer survival, we are way down between 17th and 25th – not good, is it?

One reason is they have specific treatments for different illnesses.  They regard a ‘cure’ as part of getting well.

USEFUL THINGS TO TAKE

Luggage

When you go on holiday, you aren’t going to be as fit as you think you are – and this is where a brilliant company called Live Luggage comes in.

They have developed powered luggage; a suitcase with built-in battery that takes 85% of the load off
your arms. Included in the design is a clever handle in the shape of a Y (when you see it you wonder why no other luggage manufacturer has thought of this ergonomically-sensible design).

Lift up the handle, a little motor kicks in, and however heavy the case, all you do is guide it along.

Like a kid with a toy, I road-tested a large suitcase (the sort you cram clothes in to for a two-week holiday).
I took it down stairs; out into the garden; across a lawn; and back up again. It didn’t stop once, and neither did I. Later on, using it tocarry more heavy thing inside, it was a doddle – where normally I would have had to stop every few yards as it was so heavy.

There are problems: the suitcase is suitable for trains and for main holidays, but too big for a short weekend where you want to carry-on luggage on an aircraft. And the price puts this suitcase into the Rolls Royce class. But, remember how expensive flat screen TVs were a short while ago? I am sure that prices will come down.

For the technically-minded, the tilt switch/sensors only power the wheels at certain angles – between slopes of 15% and 35%. If you accidentally drop the case or let go, it won’t run away from you. In these instances, the case will go beyond its ‘active’ angles, so no power will be delivered to the motors.

For the non-technical like me, there is a wonderful little umbrella hidden under the handle. When you arrive and the rain is bucketing down, you just tilt the handle and pull out your brolly. Genius.

The handle can be adjusted to three height levels making it as comfortable for people of all heights. The lock has been approved by the US’s TSA (likened to the KGB), and also our CAA. If you lose it, you go on the web with your ‘credit card’ that comes with the case, and the built-in tracker tells you if it has been handed in.

The power comes from a battery, which you charge like your mobile phone, and if you forget to do this the case can be pulled like an ordinary wheeled case – but without the power.

So, why would anyone want to use a power assisted suitcase? (Apart from those like me who had surgery on a breast).

With a heavy case the problem pulling it along is not on flat marble floors – the problem is getting to and from departure lounges, the long and steep gradients, steps, kerbs, taxi and train steps, to name but a few. And all these obstacles the case takes in its stride.

Empty, the case weighs 10.6kg, just 3kg more than the standard hard luggage of similar capacity/ volume. However, the important thing to remember is when it has a 30kg payload it actually ONLY feels like 3kg weight – even when going up a gradient – which means a 6 year old or an 86 year old can go almost anywhere with a fully loaded case.

I treated my case gently, but it is strong enough to withstand baggage handlers in most terminals (even T5).
The handles are injection moulded in a PC ABS material and glass filled nylon, similar to
modern day car bumpers. Fully charged, it will travel around 2 kms with a 32kg, approximately 2.5 hours charge.

If you go to www.liveluggage.com you can see a video of how it works, and also how to order. And as Live Luggage say, the case has been developed because the world is NOT flat.

WHY GO ABROAD

Generally, European medical spas are very used to treating patients, and looking after their families. Up until the First World War everyone, from Queen Victoria and King Edward VII would go abroad each summer ‘to take the waters’, and doctors would recommend this to their patients.

But recently, we have got out of the habit of doing this, even though European spas have gone roaring ahead with superb treatments for medical problems, especially those which we get after cancer.

Germany provides massages as part of their health service, as does France, and at medical spas you see queues of patients clutching their medical forms, all having fantastic free sessions which would cost us a fortune in Britain. You can take advantage of their system; you will have to pay, but visiting a properly approved medical spa will still be far cheaper than going to a glitzy resort.

At a medical spa there will be genuine doctors in charge, rather than therapists who waft around in white coats (the local tourist board will tell you which are approved). Treatments will be tailored to your type of cancer, you will be under the care of a doctor who actually spends time with you, and often speaks excellent English, and the family can take advantage of the swimming pool, treatments and kid’s facilities. You may not see them from morning till night.

At Aix-les-Bains, whilst watching coach loads of OAPs arriving for their monthly treatments, I realised that I could take advantage of their system. So here is my mini-guide to having fun at Spas. This is very much tailored towards what I experienced, and what worked for me (I had breast cancer) but generally the medical spa websites will tell you which cancers they specialise in.

TRAVEL

If you are worried about flying, or told that you can’t fly, train travel is getting back to the days of glamour – or almost! Thanks to Eurostar, in conjunction with Rail Europe, there are often seamless changes at Lille Europe station for onward trains to Switzerland, Germany, France, etc. Now that St. Pancras Station is opened it will be even easier to take a train from the Midlands and North to catch Eurostar, and times are very fast.

Through trains run from London to many destinations across France and Belgium, but if you have to change, try and get Rail Europe (Eurostar’s European rail partner) to organize the change at Lille. Here you will only have to change platforms, rather than go across Paris to another station. If you have to change in Paris, don’t even think of taking the Metro (shortage of lifts or escalators) but taxis are cheaper than you might expect.

Going to Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg and many towns in Belgium, you only have to take the lift down to the main concourse a Brussels station, and then take another lift up to the platform.

www.eurostar.com. www.raileurope.co.uk.

European Rail is an excellent company that can tailor-make a train and hotel package for you, and Michael Birtles, their Managing Director takes a personal interest in customers. www.europeanrail.com

In a wheelchair, facilities are generally excellent. Although Eurostar say assistance can be arranged on the day by calling at the Assistance Desks on station concourses, I would suggest it is better to state your disability at the time of booking, on 08705 186 186.
Vegetarian meal requests should be made 24 hours in advance. Special dietary requests for low salt, gluten-free, diabetic and other meals must be made at least 48 hours before booking via the Eurostar Contact Centre (08705 186 186).

If you want a tour operator to take all the worry and planning off your shoulders, Treatment Abroad are experts in this field.  www.treatmentabroad.com