I don’t know how people do it! I took one long weekend trip to NC and it totally messed me up.
I have always had great empathy for my friends and people I’ve met who have had to travel with cancer or to get cancer treatment, but now that I’ve had just a little taste of what’s it’s like for them, I have no clue how they do it.
At my Gilda’s Club I met several women who came from rural areas for cancer treatment. Some stayed with relatives, some rented houses, and some stayed in hotels.
A few that I met were lucky enough to get hooked up with a group that runs a house/hotel type place where you can stay for free while being treated.
It’s still not home though and I am here to say that there is no place like home!
I’m thinking back fondly of my friend who flew once a week to NY for treatment. She flew back the same day but still, I don’t know how she did it.
Having cancer is quite awful in my experience and having my own home, pets and friends around me is what helped me recover. Staying in my comfort zone.
While I know that my comfort zone should be a small place inside myself that I can call on wherever I go, it isn’t there. My comfort zone is the smells and sounds of my home. The nudges from my dog to be petted and my kitten sitting on my neck while I type. (Which is really very annoying sometimes but boy did I miss not having her there.)
Some of the things that threw me off were just getting out of my routine. Pre cancer I rarely took any type of pills. Now, I have a box of the am pills day by day and the pm pills day by day. Besides those I have 2 or 3 each for the am and pm that I get out of the bottles.
They are supplements, Chinese herbs, vitamins and meds prescribed by my doctor. At home it’s easy to remember to take them because they are right there and I take them at certain points of the day that I’ve discovered are the easiest for me to remember.
At home I miss the pm group maybe once a week. In my 4 day weekend trip I NEVER took them. I had them in a bag with me wherever I went but I just did not remember to take them. I was so far off my schedule it just didn’t even enter my mind “take your pills now”.
The am group I never miss at home. I take them while I get my dogs food and meds ready. I might add here that I never miss any of my dog’s meds, am or pm and suspect even with traveling I wouldn’t forget but who know? I missed mine 1 of the 4 days I was gone.
I also missed performing certain tasks that I do at home to prevent problems. An exercise here, a meditation there.
The big thing that I totally blanked out on was the fact that I have Lymphedema. I have been to 3 workshops on the topic, trying to learn every preventative measure I could. I know for a fact that in every one of those workshops they went over preventative measures while traveling. Both my surgeon and my oncologist have talked to me about this as well.
I don’t travel though, so I didn’t listen. You can bet I will remember all I’ve been told if I ever venture out to travel again though!
I forgot all about the fact that if I am in a car or plane I have to wear my compression sleeve and stockings or else. Sadly I learned what that “or else” is. My arm and both legs blew up to the size of cement cinder blocks. And they hurt.
More than that though, I got scared. My feet were so swollen it was impossible to tell my toes apart. I do have pictures of this and no way am I posting them. I sent some to my doctor and made her promise to delete them.
I also have been told over and over that I can’t get any kinds of wounds or slivers etc. on the right side of my body. I’m supposed to wear gloves when I do anything that could risk a scratch. Well, I don’t do this. When I’m landscaping I like to feel the earth.
Because I am so stubborn and complacent I left for the weekend with numerous bruises and scratches on my right arm and a sliver in my right foot.
IF I had worn the compression stuff, IF I had taken my various pills, IF I had done my exercises and meditations I might not have been off work a whole week after I got back and might not have been so scared and stressed part of that week.
So, I’m wondering, how do you do it? How do you travel with cancer? How do you maintain your regime?
Or have you decided to do what I plan on in the future and stay at home?
Monday Night Cancer Club is a Daily Kos group focused on dealing with cancer, primarily for cancer survivors and caregivers, though clinicians, researchers, and others with a special interest are also welcome. Volunteer diarists post Monday evenings between 7-8 PM ET on topics related to living with cancer, which is very broadly defined to include physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive aspects. Mindful of the controversies endemic to cancer prevention and treatment, we ask that both diarists and commenters keep an open mind regarding strategies for surviving cancer, whether based in traditional, Eastern, Western, allopathic or other medical practices. This is a club no one wants to join, in truth, and compassion will help us make it through the challenge together.
Upcoming Diary Schedule
We'd love to have folks in the community write diaries. If you're interested please PM me. I can tell you all that is involved (don't worry, we don't grade on spelling).
Here are some upcoming Mondays. Let me know if you'd like to snag one for a diary.
10.12- Spine Doc
10.19-
10.26-
11.2-
11.9-
11.16-
11.23-
11.30-