Cancer travel insurance

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a terrible experience and your first reaction, naturally, can be one of shock and worry. However whilst, some cancers are not curable, most are treatable. Many people who have been diagnosed with an incurable cancer are living a relatively normal life and able to carry on working. An essential part of leading a normal life involves going on holiday, and this is where problems can arise; - because not only is it hard to find travel insurance with cancer cover but when you do, the premium quoted is often more than the cost of the holiday!

insurancewith has specific cancer travel insurance policies for the more common cancers such as:

insurancewith is designed to give you a travel insurance policy that not only covers your cancer, but also provides all the usual travel insurance benefits such as lost baggage, cancellation, travel delay etc., at a reasonable price.

The insurancewith cancer travel insurance cover is available for all types of cancer no matter what stage it has reached, even if you have had:

• Chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Biological therapy
• Recent Surgery
• Hormone therapy

There are over 50 types of chemotherapy drugs, and they work by stopping cancer cells dividing and reproducing. The chemotherapy drugs are generally administered straight into the blood, that way they can reach cancer cells anywhere in the body. The chemotherapy is also taken up by some healthy cells, but healthy cells can repair the damage caused by chemotherapy, and cancer cells can't and eventually die.

Different chemotherapy drugs damage cancer cells in different ways, and sometimes a combination of drugs are chosen because of its different effects.

Unfortunately, chemotherapy drugs can cause unpleasant side effects, as they affect some of the healthy cells in your body. However, damage to the healthy cells is usually temporary and most side effects will disappear once the treatment is over. Healthy cells in certain parts of the body are especially sensitive to chemotherapy drugs; these parts of the body include:

• the bone marrow (which makes blood cells
• the hair follicles
• lining of the mouth
• the digestive system

Chemotherapy is usually given as a series of sessions of treatment. Each session is followed by a rest period. The session of chemotherapy and the rest period is known as a cycle of treatment. A series of cycles makes up a course of treatment. Each session of chemotherapy destroys more of the cancer cells, and the rest period allows the normal cells and tissues to recover.

Radiotherapy is the use of high energy x-rays and similar rays (such as electrons) to treat disease.

Since the discovery of x-rays over one hundred years ago, radiation has been used more and more in medicine, both to help with diagnosis (by taking pictures with x-rays), and as a treatment (radiotherapy). While radiation obviously has to be used very carefully, doctors and radiographers have a lot of experience in its use in medicine.

Many people with cancer will have radiotherapy as part of their treatment. This can be given either as external radiotherapy; external radiotherapy is normally given as a series of short, daily treatments in the radiotherapy department, using equipment similar to a large x-ray machine. Each treatment is called a fraction. Giving the treatment in fractions ensures that less damage is done to normal cells than to cancer cells.

The number of treatments you have depends on several factors, including:

• your general health
• the type of cancer being treated and where it is in the body
• whether or not you have had, or are going to have, surgery, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy as part of your treatment.

Internal radiotherapy is used mainly to treat cancers in the head and neck area, the cervix, womb, prostate gland or the skin. Treatment is given in one of two ways:

• by putting solid radioactive material (the source) close to or inside the tumour for a limited period of time
• by using a radioactive liquid, which is given either as a drink or as an injection into a vein.

If you have internal radiotherapy, you may have to stay in hospital for a few days and special precautions will be taken while the radioactive material is in place in your body. Once the treatment is over there is no risk of exposing your family or friends to radiation.

The process of putting solid radioactive material close to or inside the tumour is called brachytheraphy and giving a radioactive liquid, either as a drink, a capsule, or as an injection into a vein is called radioisotope treatment.

Radiotherapy works by destroying the cancer cells in the treated area. Although normal cells can also be damaged by the radiotherapy, they can usually repair themselves.

Radiotherapy treatment can cure some cancers and can also reduce the chance of a cancer coming back after surgery. It may be used to reduce cancer symptoms.

Biological therapies are treatments that use natural substances from the body, or drugs made from these substances. Biological therapies stimulate the body to:

• Attack or control the growth of cancer cells
• Overcome side effects caused by other cancer treatments such as chemotherapy

Biological therapies work in a slightly different way to other treatments that kill or control cancer cells. They use the natural substance, or something developed from the natural body substance, to interfere with the way cells interact and signal to each other. Whether you have biological therapy depends on:

• The type of cancer you have
• How far your cancer has spread (the stage)
• Other cancer treatments you’ve had

Many types of biological therapies for cancer are still experimental, and they are not suitable for treating all types of cancers.

Surgery is frequently used to remove cancerous growths or obtain small samples of tissue for examination. For several types of cancer, surgical removal of a tumour may be sufficient to cure the cancer.

The likelihood of a surgical cure is dependent on the size, location, and stage of the cancer. When removing a tumour the surgeon will try to remove as much of the tumour as possible. The tissue removed will often be examined by a pathologist for signs of tumour cells near the edge of the incision. This is to ensure that all detectable cancer cells have been removed. If no cancer cells are visible in the tissue surrounding the excised tissue, the specimen may be said to have 'clear margins', meaning that all visible tumour cells have been removed.

Using microscopes, pathologists can look very closely at the removed tissue to see if any cancer cells may have been left behind. If there are areas around the perimeter of the tissue removed that do not have a margin of normal cells then some cancerous cells may have been left behind and the surgeon may go back to remove more tissue surrounding the tumour site. Cancer Surgery is often used in combination with radiation and/or chemotherapy

Some cancers use these hormones to grow. Hormone therapy for cancer is the use of drugs to block the effects of hormones. Not all cancers respond to hormone therapy, and Doctors only use hormone therapy for people with cancers that are hormone sensitive or hormone dependent.

Cancers that can be hormone sensitive include breast cancer, prostate cancer, womb cancer (also called uterine or endometrial cancer) and kidney cancer (link to the relevant conditions pages on site) Cancers that are hormone sensitive or hormone dependent need hormones to grow, therefore stopping the hormone reaching the cancer cells may either slow down or stop the growth of the cancer.

Hormone therapies can work by either

• Stopping hormones being made
• Preventing the hormone reaching the cancer cell

There are a number of different types of hormone therapy. The one that is given will depend on a number of factors, including which type of cancer is being treated.

insurancewith will even cover you if you’re undergoing treatment as well as those with secondary cancers.

The insurancewith travel insurance for cancer patients policy was created by people with first-hand experience of cancer, who really understand your problems when it comes to buying travel insurance that gives you full cover for your cancer. We even have cancer travel insurance policies for the rarer cancers such as:

• Kidney cancer travel insurance
• Ovarian cancer travel insurance
• Pancreatic cancer travel insurance
• Non Hodkins lymphoma travel insurance
• Testicular cancer travel insurance

The insurancewith policy has a Doctor led 24 hour emergency help line, so that if you do encounter any problems whilst away, they will be able to offer advice and also liaise with both your medical team at home and the treating doctors in the country where you are holidaying; this is particularly important if your grasp of the language spoken is limited. Our policy gives you peace of mind so all you have to do is relax and enjoy your holiday.

Whilst having a cancer should not stop you from travelling; it is always essential that you consult your GP or specialist prior to booking your trip, to ensure that you are fit to travel.

It is also advisable to research the available medical facilities near to where you are planning to stay especially if you are travelling to an island or remote area as there may be no suitable medical facilities nearby which could be problematical in the event of an emergency.

For a confidential cancer travel insurance quotation, and to obtain more information on insurancewith please call our insurancewith medical screening department on 0845 2 307 159 and speak to one of our specially trained advisors, or get a travel insurance with cancer cover quoteon-line.

Whichever method you use you will need to provide:

• The dates of your diagnosis
• The dates of any surgery
• Dates of any treatment
• Details of any medication you are taking

Our medical screening department is trained to deal with your call and are our advisors are experienced in speaking to people with cancer, so you can rest assured that your call will be sensitively and professionally handled.