Breast cancer treatment abroad: my experience in Thailand

I'm Italian. I was living in Chiang Mai when I found the lump. I was 40, three months into a new relationship, and very far from my family.

I chose to have my breast cancer treatment in Thailand: chemo, cold capping and surgery. This is what it was like.

The person who changed everything

My friend Mean came to every appointment. She was my translator and my cultural advocate. She helped me understand not just the words, but how things work here.

If I were being treated far from home again, I'd find my Mean first. A friend, a colleague, a paid interpreter. Someone on your side of the desk.

Second opinions travel

Before surgery I saw several doctors, in Thailand and in Italy. Nobody was offended. I asked for copies of everything: pathology, scans, the plan.

Records travel even when you can't.

Write it down in your own language

You'll be asked the same questions over and over, sometimes in a language that isn't yours. One page with your type, stage, drug names and cycle dates, in your own language and in the hospital's, saves you from explaining it all again every time.

What I'd tell you

Being treated abroad isn't harder or easier. It's different. How I chose my doctors and my hospital, and what I'd ask any hospital abroad, is what my AI Self is for. Ask it anything.