If you feel you need to, if it doesn't interfere with your treatment schedule, and if your referring physician has no objections, it's possible to travel with cancer. However, you need to prepare your trip carefully.
Before you leave
- Consult your oncologist for advice on whether or not you should travel.
- Notify your health insurance company, your mutual insurance company and your medical advisor of your departure, to avoid a break in the coverage of your medical expenses and exposure to a control by your employer if you are on sick leave.
- If you're going abroad, make sure you're insured for travel and repatriation. It's always useful to have good insurance abroad. If you're ill, it's highly recommended. We don't know what might happen on the spot (side effects, strong symptoms, very disabling problems forcing you to cut short your stay, loss of medication).
GOOD TO KNOW:
>If you're traveling within the European Union: simply order your European Health Insurance Card from your Ameli space. This card covers all health care costs within the European Union (medication, hospitalization, repatriation, etc.)
>Check your bank card insurance: there may be interesting coverage for travel.
To be planned
- A document certifying that you have cancer and authorizing you to transport medication, completed and signed by your doctor (in English if possible, if you're going to a non-French-speaking country).
- Current prescriptions and medication leaflets.
- Emergency prescriptions.
THINK OF IT!
> As not all molecules are marketed under the same name everywhere, ask your doctor to use the international nomenclature.
> A blood group card and an international vaccination record (for destinations outside the EU).
The right thing to do
- If you need to take medication at a fixed time, take into account the time difference.
- Protect yourself from the sun, because many treatments sensitize your skin:
- Protect your skin with sunscreen (SPF 50 minimum! If the SPF is lower, there's no point). Apply sunscreen 20 minutes before exposure, and reapply after each swim or every 2 hours.
- Avoid exposure between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.
- Wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses
ATTENTION:
Many items of clothing, beach tents and parasols are not UV-resistant. The UPF 50+ index and EN71 safety standards must appear on the labels of these products.