Alexandra has been battling her breast cancer for years. This summer, she will once again have to deal with her treatments to go on vacation with complete peace of mind.
Since Cancer doesn’t take vacations, it’s vacation time to adapt. Alexandra* organizes her summer like her daily life around treatments: “I cannot afford to take breaks in my care because certain treatments to be active must be given with metronome regularity.” This sixty-year-old suffering from triple-negative breast cancer that has become metastatic must currently go to the hospital every week to take treatment adapted to the evolution of her pathology. In fact, it is difficult for him to be absent for more than a week. “I manage to leave between two courses of treatmentshe smiles. This summer I will stay in France and I would like to go two or three times.”
On the program: tourist walk, tasting of local specialties and perhaps a swim… and a few precautions. “With my chemotherapy, I can’t stay in the sunshe explains. I can’t go on a hike either because you have to take into account the fatigue induced by my treatment.” However, going on vacation is also a “mental exercise”: “IYou have to manage to pick up and tell yourself that for 5 days ‘you are no longer sick!'”, she laughs. Even if the pain can sometimes appear on certain days, Alexandra assures us that the good mood and the desire to undertake allow her to often free herself from the disease.
The hassle of hospital expatriation
Added to this is the continuation of the care that punctuates her days: Alexandra takes a blood test every Thursday to check her constants. The data is then sent to the medical team who follows her, then another day is necessary to prepare her medicine according to the evolution of her disease and her body mass. She must then go to the hospital – where her treatment is made up in the establishment’s pharmacy – to take her remedy. “I can go on vacation if I want, but I absolutely have to be back on Monday to take the medicine.. I can take my blood samples elsewhere, laboratories are used to having passing patients, I have done it in almost all regions of France!” However, it must make sure before the summer opening of the laboratory in order to carry out this blood test in due time.
This rhythm greatly constrains his vacation. However, Alexandra recognizes that other patients choose to change their place of care during the summer in order to make the most of another region. “I don’t like this idea of changing the place of treatment at all.she admits. We must ensure that the pharmacy of the new hospital is sufficiently stocked to be able to manufacture the medicine recommended by my doctors. Moreover, I am more reassured if it is the same team that follows me, otherwise I fear erroneous interpretations of my examinations if the practitioner – who does not know me – does not take the time to read all of my case.”
If the summer period does not disrupt the functioning of laboratories or radiotherapies, it does, however, upset supportive care. “This is one of the positive points of confinement! I realize that it is possible to continue the sport including the summershe enthuses. Usually, everything stops during the holidays and I have to manage on my own. There, it’s nice to continue the work and see the same people regularly during the videoconference sessions.” In addition to overcoming isolation, adapted physical activity above all helps to maintain the body, maintain muscle mass and thus reduce the side effects of medication. A treatment with beneficial effects, including for morale: “This morning, I had feelings of fatigue and pain, but after the sports session, we all noticed that we felt better both in terms of fatigue and pain.she assures. We feel better after than before, always.”
* The first name has been changed
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