Hello SB5667, 

I am so sorry to hear about your lung cancer diagnosis and I can imagine this has greatly upset your holiday plans. If you already have travel insurance, I think you should get in touch with your insurance company as soon as possible and explain your situation that you didn't know at the time you booked that you would get this diagnosis shortly before your trip. I am sure that they will be able to help or offer further guidance. You didn't expect to be ill before travelling so it's really worth talking to your insurance and seeing what they can do. 

There is useful information on our website on travel insurance and cancer which might be useful to you and Macmillan is also a great resource on financial matters and on travel insurance advice and I would suggest you read their page on cancer and buying travel insurance and it mentions that travel insurance would normally help with cancellation or curtailment if you need to cancel your trip or end it early. Give your insurance a call as soon as you can and certainly before you are due to go away and explain the full situation. 

Many other members of our community will have also been through something similar in the past and it would be really interesting to hear their experiences as it's always helpful to hear from first hand real life experiences of similar situations. I can imagine it's all still a bit of a shock to you coming to terms with the news and I am so sorry that you are having to cancel your holiday as a result. 

I hope that you find out soon what the next treatment steps might be following your diagnosis and that you will soon be in a position to rebook a nice holiday again or that you can have a lovely little break as soon as you are able to do so. I hope that you find out soon what the next treatment steps might be following your diagnosis and we are thinking of you during this stressful time. The forum is here for you, always, anytime you need to talk about your diagnosis or anything that is on your mind really. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Thanks  for you kind words of support on behalf of the community forum I have spoken now to my travel insurance and they confirmed that any bookings made prior to diagnosis is covered and will be refundable which is great news