Vacation During Radiation Therapy

If you are thinking about taking a vacation and are planning around your radiation treatment schedule, there are a few things you’ll need to know. First, you should talk to your health care provider about when a good time to plan a vacation might be.

It may be best to plan your vacation after your radiation treatments are complete. Most importantly, when scheduling a vacation after treatment, do not schedule it too close to your last day of treatment. Often times treatments may end later than originally expected due to radiation machine downtime or delays in treatment due to side effects.

If you are planning on vacationing prior to your treatments, be prepared. Take important phone numbers with you and make yourself familiar with a local doctor in case of emergency.

It may not be best to plan a vacation during the middle of your treatments. Although, if this is the only opportunity you have, and your health care provider has given you the okay, then you will want to plan ahead. When planning, try not to miss more than one or two days of scheduled treatments. It would be best to try to plan over a long weekend. For example, if you are undergoing radiation treatments you could ask for an early treatment time on Thursday, take off Friday, and arrange for a late treatment time the following Monday. This will help you maximize your time away while minimizing your missed treatments. Also, keep in mind if you are receiving treatment as part of a clinical trial, this may not be possible.

What type of vacation can I plan?

When planning a vacation before, during, or soon after the cancer treatments you may not want to plan a long or high activity vacation. You may prefer to plan a shorter vacation where you can get some time to rest and relax. Plan a relaxing beach vacation as opposed to a big city tour with lots of walking and activity.

Delegate others that will be vacationing with you to do the grocery shopping, cleaning, and trip planning. You will want to set realistic expectations prior to planning the trip. Even if you are feeling good when you are planning your vacation you may not have as much energy or stamina when it comes time to hit the road.

Cancer Goes to the Beach is an informative webinar about planning for a vacation.