A holiday after cancer treatment?

[PoptartPoptart]

Has anyone been on holiday a couple of months after finishing cancer treatment?

We have a big family holiday to Florida planned for next year (August 2026). We’ve been planning and saving for ages, my elderly parents are coming, and it’s probably the last time our young adult DC will come on holiday with us too.

I’m starting adjuvant chemotherapy next week (8 cycles, fortnightly) so that will take me to the end of February, all being well (although this could go on a bit longer, depending on my white blood cell count).
Then I will have a break for a few weeks and then have radiotherapy. I’m not sure how long this will go on for yet, but let’s say I am all done by the beginning of May.

Will I be ok to go on holiday 3 months later? It’s quite an active holiday, lots of walking, standing, early starts. Plus the heat and humidity in Florida in August is insane (have been before).

My BC nurse told me to go for it, and she was quite adamant that I’d be fine.

If these last few months have taught me anything, it’s that life’s too short to delay things, but I am a bit worried in case I’m still suffering from fatigue or other symptoms.

It’s a lot of money to potentially waste if I’m not well enough to go (no insurance will cover me in case of cancellation as we are booking it knowing the circumstances)

Has anyone got any advice please?

Honestly I probably wouldn't.

I'm in a similar position and booking things closer to the time.

Its hard to predict how you will feel. The bigger issue will be finding insurance cover for the USA given your medical history. Have you looked into that?

Interesting that you asked this as we had already booked a trip to Italy in September next year and I then found out two weeks later that I have breast cancer.
I spoke to the nurse about it last week and at this stage am still waiting for a treatment plan and she said you will be fine to go.

But my thoughts are the same as yours - will I be well enough, will I have any hair? etc etc, so I dont have an answer but we havent cancelled it yet.....

we went to Turkey 3 months after I’d finished chemotherapy and had a mastectomy, it was hard initially as my hair was growing back and I felt self conscious in my swimsuits, I also found I couldn’t tolerate the heat as much as I used to. But, a couple of days in I wasn’t bothered about how I looked and I’d figured out where to sit so I was out of the sun etc and it was lovely to get away with my family.

I had breast cancer when I was 30. I did chemo August-December, and then had 4 weeks of radio in February. I definitely felt not like myself for a good 6 months after finishing all treatment. I had peripheral neuropathy in my hands and feet as well as other achey pains. I probably would have gone on a holiday but just taken it a bit slower.

Check out the cost of insurance, it may be more than the holiday

I probably wouldn’t consider travelling to the US in those circumstances as any health-related issues linked to your cancer diagnosis and/or treatment are unlikely to be covered by insurance and costs can escalate incredibly quickly. That being said, I’m currently 3 weeks post surgery for breast cancer (double mastectomy) and had neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (12 sessions) before that, and feel absolutely fine. If you’re in otherwise good health, a holiday in and of itself shouldn’t be out of the question.

3 months after finishing chemo & radiotherapy I went on a trip to New York with a friend! I found I still tired easily, but with a rest in the afternoons was fine. Perhaps plan for that scenario & make sure you can rest if needed, but it will be a real tonic, enjoy yourself 😎

Thanks to everyone for replying so far.
I really just don’t know what to do for the best.

Obviously I’m desperate to go, but I don’t want to go if I’m going to feel tired or not be able to keep up with everyone.

I haven’t looked into travel insurance yet in detail. We are actually covered by our bank (Barclays Travel Pack) that is included with our bank account, but I will have to call them and declare my recent diagnosis.

Can you get insurance? The USA is not a country you visit without it. Have you booked yet? If not I’d hold off until you finish your treatment because everyone is different, some bounce back energy wise fairly quickly, others will struggle with a more active holiday (but a chill out trip in France would be fine as an example)

My DS and DH went to the Singapore Grand Prix in the month off after chemo and radiotherapy (before starting 6 months of chemo). 6 months later we all went - DS2/partner/baby/Dh on holiday to Tenerife, DS1 was still on chemo (tablet form) as the previous month his blood cell count was too low to take it. We also went to Spain for a holiday and then Monza for the Grand Prix.

I would say absolutely go for it - although make sure you have the correct travel insurance. DS1's dx was terminal so the insurance for Singapore was very high 5K.

DS1 has since passed away (29th June from a Glioblastoma), but we would not have done anything different.

Just be prepared to maybe rest if your body feels tired. At the end of the day, you can always hire a mobility chair for the parks.

@BellaVita thank you for your message and I’m so sorry to hear about your DS

August is tough going in florida. It's hot and humid. Disney is far from relaxing. Best part of 20k + steps a day. I would see if 2027 is double. You need to check insurance to see if you could get cover too. See how it goes and see if something closer to home suits better nearer the time.

I did a treatment year in 2022 finishing radio in Aug after chemo finishing in July. I went on holiday for a week in UK between chemo and radio which was fine - access to UK healthcare (wasn't needed), obviously appearance is different. I could do some activities fine like canoeing for 2 hours but others like surfing or walking a long time not so much. Chemo effects carry on for 3 months after treatment ends. The other thing is chemo dates often get extended or delayed for things like you have bad side effects so they postpone, bad blood results, problem at hospital - mine probably ended 6 weeks after it was originally planned (NHS).

In Oct / Nov we went to the Maldives and that was fine but not a high energy holiday, just swimming in the sea, boat trips, walking round the island for an hour or so type thing and no problems. Insurance you may well need specialist insurance from someone like InsuranceWith. The US may well raise prices for insurance, there was someone on here and it was £500 for a US holiday for her with them though was 6 weeks and that might of been for all of them. They did pay out when she needed hospital treatment. She was at stage 4.

I probably would not book until after treatment is over as there are too many variables though they can normally work around holidays. But surgery I was supposed to have 1 then needed another one. If chemo doesn't work as well as they hoped it could be they add surgery, hopefully not but you never know. I would also be wary about the US due to the high costs of hospital care and political situation.

The Italian holiday would say fine. A super active holiday like climbing mountains I would leave until a year plus after.

I finished chemotherapy just before Christmas, and then had radiotherapy Jan/feb, also having herceptin every 3 weeks. We had to cancel our Florida holiday last year because of my diagnosis and surgeries, and so was determined to go this July
i had to delay a herceptin treatment to go, but I went and had a fantastic family holiday. Obviously I was a bit further out of chemo than you are but mentally the holiday did me so much good.
i had travel insurance through my bank and found that they wouldn’t insure me whilst having chemo and radiotherapy but as soon as that was over I was considered cancer free and so insurable again. You may find they won’t cover you at the moment, so if you booked now and had to cancel you’d not be covered, but once you’re done you might be fine.
i cold capped and kept all my hair so didn’t have that to worry about.
good luck and I hope you get your holiday, i know how gutted i was last year when cancer took it from me xx

I think a holiday will be fine but not a disney holiday.
You have no idea how you'll feel. And your treatment plan could change, mine has changed numerous times.
Im going on holiday next week for the first time since I was diagnosed in May 2024, my kids were desperate to go to Disney but I just don't think I could cope with it so we are going for a more chilled out holiday.

What if you delayed the trip for a year and went somewhere closer to home next year after your treatment finished?

I went to Spain this year during treatment. It was fine, but I did very much have to pace myself. I couldn’t do the heat. I needed to take a naps every afternoon, definitely could not do full days. And I had to do low key dinners at our flat, like I could have snacks and then go to bed in the evenings, no late nights. I couldn’t do dinner out. I was done by 7pm. It would have been tough to feel like I had to keep up with everyone else or that I was letting everyone down.

So me personally, I would delay and see how you feel. You may feel a need to rush because elderly parents and growing children, but actually your parents and children would probably enjoy the trip so much more if you were yourself again, so it’s worth considering it from their perspective.

We went to Florida in 2019, a year and a bit after DS finished chemotherapy. We struggled with insurance, “normal” companies wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole and we ended up going to a specialist long term illness company who would insure but we had to jump through hoops - I seem to recall us having to have something underwritten.

The thing I found funniest was that it was far riskier for our other DS to travel (Asthma and Anaphylaxis) yet he’s easy to insure

A Disney holiday is exhausting at the best of times so I do think it will be difficult, but maybe do-able if you can do shorter days (not sure if you’re staying on site) or a hire a scooter etc. As you say, the August Florida heat is difficult at the best of times.

I’d check out insurance cost before you commit, try lots of different companies as your bank one may be a lot more. I have a pancreas disease and find the cost of pre existing conditions varies hugely.

My wife had breast cancer, and several cycles of chemo. She had previously been above average fitness levels (went running, but recreational, not competition level), and we went to Portugal to places we knew and could rest regularly. After her first treatment cycle, it wasn't too bad, and she was able to do quite a bit, but was still tired. I don't think disney levels though.

As others have said, your main issue will be insurance, and although we found specialist cancer cover, it still didn't cover the US.

I finished Chemo last November, op in December and then Radiotherapy in Feb/March. We were meant to go to Florida last September but unfortunately had to cancel so I was determined to go this year.
We managed to go in May and had a fab time! We did 10days in Orlando and then travelled down to the Keys.
I was still having Herceptin injections but luckily timed it well.
I say go for it!

Florida is always hard work and hot but you know what and I appreciate what you are saying about life being too short. Why don't you look into the mobility scooters etc - you can get them delivered to your hotel over there and it's so common no one would blink an eye. Also plan in more rest days and think what you can do to make your life easier eg book meals, character dining, if on resort ask for a room near reception etc