Breast Cancer Travel Insurance

To get a quote by telephone, please contact us on 01273 773 017 or chris@jsinsurance.co.uk

Travel Advice:

• Provided you feel well enough breast cancer should not prohibit you from travelling. However, consult your doctor prior to booking your trip.
• If you are taking any medicine it is important to make sure you pack enough to cover the full length of your tip, and to take some extra in case of delays. Take a doctors letter listing the medicines, type of cancer and treatments you have had. Take a note of the generic name of the drug you are taking, rather than the brand name in case you need to find replacement medication while abroad as drugs can be known by different names around the world.
• Confirm the medicines you are taking with you are allowed into the country you are travelling to. Keep all medicine in the packaging that they were supplied in to assist customs staff.
• It is not wise to have live vaccinations during, or up to 6 months after a course of chemotherapy as the immune system may be weakened.
• If you have had surgery in the last 10 days it is not advisable to fly. During surgery small amounts of air may become trapped in the body. During a flight this air may expand and cause an increase in pressure. After 10 days any trapped air should have dissolved but discuss this with your surgeon if you are planning to travel after surgery.

If travelling within Europe ensure you have your EHIC card with you and ensure you inform your travel insurance provider of your condition to ensure you are fully covered.

Causes and Symptoms:

The body is constantly growing new cells to replace body tissue. Occasionally a genetic mutation can occur in the gene responsible for controlling this. This disrupts the process and the cells divide without their normal control. This results in a tumour. The tumour may be benign (non-cancerous and not a danger to health) or malignant. Malignant tumours are cancerous and potentially dangerous to health as they can spread beyond the tumour and affect other areas of the body.

Breast Cancer refers to the uncontrolled growth of breast cells. Overtime the cancerous cells may invade nearby healthy breast tissue and move into the underarm lymph nodes. From the lymph nodes the cancerous cells can then spread to other parts of the body. If the cancer is caught early then there is a good chance it can be treated successfully. However, if the cancer has spread then this makes it considerably more difficult to treat.

Symptoms can include lumps, swellings and skin changes. It is important to regularly examine the breasts and immediately consult a doctor if any changes are detected. There may however be no obvious symptoms.

Breast Cancer primarily affects women but 1% of cases occur in men. Risk factors include being overweight and having a family history of breast cancer. The risk also increases with age. Breast Cancer is the most common cancer amongst women and approximately 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Death rates have been falling over recent years due to improved treatments, screening programs and improved awareness of the condition.

Treatment:

The treatment of the cancer will depend on how developed it is. Some common treatments of the disease can include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, biological therapy and hormone therapy.

When getting a quote for breast cancer travel insurance we will ask you a number of questions to ensure you get the right quote. These will be:

• Has the disease ever spread beyond the breast?
• How long ago was the initial diagnosis of breast cancer made?
• Was the breast cancer completely surgically removed after diagnosis?
• How frequently are you seeing a hospital doctor about your cancer? (do not count plastic surgery)
• Are you currently having any treatment or is any planned?
• Are you currently on any form of hormone therapy?
• Are strong painkillers being taken?

If you are travelling with others, we can include them on the policy even if they do not have any pre existing medical conditions.

Useful Websites: Breast Cancer.org - Breast Cancer Information NHS - About Breast Cancer - Breast Cancer Indepth

To get a quote by telephone, please contact us on 01273 773 017 or chris@jsinsurance.co.uk

This Travel Insurance is provided by goodtogoinsurance.com. goodtogoinsurance.com is an appointed representative of Ancile Insurance Group Ltd. which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority - No 471641.