Not to want to cancel a holiday while on the 2wk cancer pathway?

[Liveinthewoods80]

Hi,
I'm on the 2wk urgent pathway with suspected lung cancer. I'm a bit breathless with slight chest pain . I'm due on a flight to Scotland in 9 days' time for a break with a friend.

I have a PET scan tomorrow and a lung function test on Friday. Last week my GP said my lungs were clear and I was fit to fly, but I'm not convinced. She didn't give me any medication to improve my symptoms as it would interfere with the tests I am having.

I'm expecting to have a bronchoscopy and/or biopsy, which on this 2wk pathway would fall either just before I'm due to leave or while I'm away.

Should I cancel my trip? Neither me or my friend have travel insurance and she has no one else to go with so won't go on her own, though she insists my health comes first, bless her. But I feel guilty.

I'm asthmatic and went down the same diagnostic path in 2016. I cancelled a trip abroad only later to be told I did not have cancer (but lung disease for which I was treated).

What I want to know is, would it be reasonable to delay the next stage of the diagnostic process? Has anyone else done this and did you regret it? I'm away for five days. Thanks for reading.

How long will you wait if you go on holiday and push appointment back?

My dad had tests carried out to investigate the return of his cancer near to going on holiday. He had contacted the department and they were more than happy to arrange his appointments either side of him going away (short haul for a week).
So I suppose it depends on appointment availability as you don't want a delay.

From my dad's point of view, he hadn't been on holiday for 4 years due to the first cancer and the long lasting after effects of the treatment, so he was determined to go.

I’d go on the trip. They’ll get you an appointment fairly quickly when you get back.

How long is the trip? Tbh I'd still go unless the consultant advises otherwise. If it is the flight concerning you, is the train possible.

I don't know peashoots. For my first appointment for the initial CT scan - when I wasn't taking the possibility of cancer all that seriously - I told the hospital I couldn't attend the first appointment offeredas I thought I would not be able to get the time off work. The next one they offered was 4 days later so I took that.

But with an interventional procedure such as biopsy or bronchoscopy I don't know if I will be offered another appointment so soon. I guess I could ask my lung nurse on the likelihood/ availability. Good idea, thanks. (Can't think straight with the anxiety.)

Thanks LIZ, Quebec and June.

I am concerned about the flight and definitely considering the train. I can take the train, yes.

I would have a chat with the lung nurse and explain that you have a holiday booked and give them the dates you are away. They should be able to offer you an appointment not long after you get back or maybe before you go. They work to timescales anyway so they would know when you need to to have each test by.

Having said that, you may not have lung cancer. Fingers crossed for you.

I would want the tests asap. 2ww are there for a reason. A holiday can be rebooked. Health can't.
You will also need to tell your travel insurance provider that you are undergoing tests. If you don't it will be invalidated

I would seek the advice of your clinical nurse specialist, they were really good at offering us advice on this kind of stuff when DH was under investigations.

Mamamia7962 - thanks for the advice. Realise I am drip feeding but there is so much that's gone on in the past that I don't want to write long posts.

I've previously been through this lung cancer process before, having had lung biopsies, when my lung was punctured in the process each time, meaning I couldn't go anywhere. I had to cancel a flight from Australia to London to see my mum in a stroke unit the first time, and my 50th birthday trip the second time. So that's complicating it somewhat. ( I didn't have cancer obviously.)

Nobetterthansheoughttobe - Neither of us has travel insurance as we are travelling within the UK and didn't think to buy it. Next time I will though! Lesson learnt. We will lose the money if we don't go, which I'm not bothered about but I don't want my friend out of pocket. I will compensate her if it comes to that.

Thanks bloody, that is reassuring. Was your DH ok?

I appreciate the dilemma, and you must be anxious. I apologise, didn't realise you were only staying in UK, so insurance not really relevant (but useful for yrips abroad!)
I hope all will be well

No need to apologise Nobetterthansheoughttobe! I have never considered travel insurance for domestic travel but I absolutely will after this experience. Thanks for your good wishes.

I went on holiday and missed a 2ww appt for suspected skin cancer. I just had it a few days after I got back. The GP said to me that 95% of 2ww referrals aren’t cancer.

The CNS was invaluable at times, because it was her area of speciality the advice she gave was much better than the advice from our GP.

Thank you for asking, sadly no, his cancer (not a lung cancer) turned out to be rare and aggressive with a 5 year expectancy in single figures. He was lucky that he did better than the six months they told him but he died earlier this year.

I hope you get as good a news as possible.

My advice would be to cancel it op but obviously it’s up to you. I wouldn’t be able to relax in that situation as I’ve been in it myself. Best of luck to you from a cancer survivor ❤️

I disagree. We went through similar with my DH and the medics were fine with him going, and just scheduled things around the holiday. Those two or three days made no difference at all, and having that holiday turned out to be very important.

OP, the only people whose opinion matters here, are those on your team at the hospital. Let them tell you whether your trip is okay. I think it's highly likely that their answer will be yes.

I’d probably go.

Thanks everyone, I've just got in from work so sorry for the late reply.

QuebecBagnet - that is very reassuring, thank you, and superram, thanks for your advice.

bloodywhitecat - I'm so sorry to hear about your DH. I lost my beautiful mum to cancer too. Thanks also for your kind thoughts and the very helpful info about the CNS. I rang my lung cancer nurse today for advice and was told someone would call me back but no one did.

Perhaps they are waiting till they have seen my PET scan results. My friend is keen to hear about what's going on with our trip, understandably. I really hate mucking people about as I am a reliable person but I will see what the nurses say first. I'm unable to speak to a doctor as I haven't been given one! Yet.

fghj149 - thanks, I appreciate the advice , which is the same as that my sister gave me - she had cancer 6 years ago and is still clear of it after treatment, thankfully.

saraclara - I hope that your DH is OK. Thanks for your advice - I will definitely let the lung nurses guide my decision, especially if it is only a case of waiting another few days. But if they say it is likely to be longer I'll have to consider that carefully.

Another possibility is that I could go on the trip and come back early for my next appointment if it falls in that week, though it would still mean letting my friend down. It's a tough decision (for me).

OK, thought I would post this in case anyone is interested. So I just spoke to a lung nurse and she said 6 days away (not 5, my mistake) won't make any difference to my outcome if I do have cancer.

She said I wouldn't get my PET scan results till at least next Monday, and that if I then need a biopsy, most are done on Wednesdays, but it would be unlikely to be as soon as Wednesday next week as the biopsies are booked up in advance.

She said the most likely date would be the following Wednesday, which is the day after I get back from Scotland.

(I don't know how it is in other London boroughs but I'm in Greenwich borough. )

Seems strange to me that they would only do biopsies on Wednesdays, unless I've misunderstood.

I'm glad that means that you can take your holiday, OP.

I imagine that doing all the biopsies on the same day is the most efficient use of staff and the operating theatre. Only one day off setting up everything that's needed to do them (which will take time) and then getting through as many people as possible. Again, a few days doesn't make much difference, and more people get tested that way. Also it probably works in the same way for the pathology lab. One person working their way through the same type of specimen.all in one go.

Thanks saraclara. It seems a no brainer now, given what I may face ahead of me - potentially going nowhere for a while - but I'm still unsure. Don't feel too good tonight after my PET scan, but maybe it's psychological. Thanks for your support though

My dh told his nurse he was planning to go on holiday during the 2ww, she basically said don't be so stupid, stay close to home and stay safe so treatment can start ASAP, and it really did start straight away.