› Forums › General Melanoma Community › MD Anderson Patients
- This topic has 15 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 2 months ago by
casagrayson.
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- February 24, 2015 at 5:16 pm
I'm starting a trial at MD next week. My husband and I are bringing my 2 year old and 3 month old with us to Texas. We have family in Dallas and considered staying there and driving on the days I need to be in Houston. Some have said this will be too much. Any thoughts? I'm going to call my social worker today, but I thought maybe someone on here would have advice. 🙂
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- February 24, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Hi Ashley,
My name is Jackie Bronicki. My husband was diagnosed with melanoma last year (19mm tumor with no skin component). We moved to Houston from Ann Arbor 2 years ago. I actually went to Rice University here in Houston so we have a fair number of friends here in Houston. I have travelled to Dallas for both conferences and university competitions and it's about a 4 hour drive without much traffic. Unfortutanely, Houston (especially the medical center) can get quite congested traffic wise so you have to add extra time. I know the area around MD Anderson (it is very near to Rice University) and there are several hotels right near there and near Rice. I'm not sure how many days you have treatment per week but driving that back and forth may be pretty tough.
I'm a librarian here at University of Houston and I can ask several of the medical librarians what they would recommend. If they know of housing for the patients, etc. I will email the senior librarian at MD Anderson (we used to work together at UH) and see if she can point to any possible resources for you guys. If your family needs a place to stay to get your bearings for a few days, you are more than welcome at our house. We live about 20 minutes from MD Anderson. We have a 6 year old daughter Olivia and a very friendly bulldog. Also, we have plenty of friends with small children, etc in Houston that may be able to help support you all as well.
My husband will have his next scans at MD Anderson on March 11th and 12th so I will be going there with him if you would like to meet in MD Anderson just let me know.
Many prayers for successful trial!
If you want to reach out to me, feel free my email is jbronicki@gmail.com or jbronicki@uh.edu
Good luck,
Jackie Bronicki
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- February 24, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Hi Ashley,
My name is Jackie Bronicki. My husband was diagnosed with melanoma last year (19mm tumor with no skin component). We moved to Houston from Ann Arbor 2 years ago. I actually went to Rice University here in Houston so we have a fair number of friends here in Houston. I have travelled to Dallas for both conferences and university competitions and it's about a 4 hour drive without much traffic. Unfortutanely, Houston (especially the medical center) can get quite congested traffic wise so you have to add extra time. I know the area around MD Anderson (it is very near to Rice University) and there are several hotels right near there and near Rice. I'm not sure how many days you have treatment per week but driving that back and forth may be pretty tough.
I'm a librarian here at University of Houston and I can ask several of the medical librarians what they would recommend. If they know of housing for the patients, etc. I will email the senior librarian at MD Anderson (we used to work together at UH) and see if she can point to any possible resources for you guys. If your family needs a place to stay to get your bearings for a few days, you are more than welcome at our house. We live about 20 minutes from MD Anderson. We have a 6 year old daughter Olivia and a very friendly bulldog. Also, we have plenty of friends with small children, etc in Houston that may be able to help support you all as well.
My husband will have his next scans at MD Anderson on March 11th and 12th so I will be going there with him if you would like to meet in MD Anderson just let me know.
Many prayers for successful trial!
If you want to reach out to me, feel free my email is jbronicki@gmail.com or jbronicki@uh.edu
Good luck,
Jackie Bronicki
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- February 24, 2015 at 8:39 pm
Hi Ashley,
My name is Jackie Bronicki. My husband was diagnosed with melanoma last year (19mm tumor with no skin component). We moved to Houston from Ann Arbor 2 years ago. I actually went to Rice University here in Houston so we have a fair number of friends here in Houston. I have travelled to Dallas for both conferences and university competitions and it's about a 4 hour drive without much traffic. Unfortutanely, Houston (especially the medical center) can get quite congested traffic wise so you have to add extra time. I know the area around MD Anderson (it is very near to Rice University) and there are several hotels right near there and near Rice. I'm not sure how many days you have treatment per week but driving that back and forth may be pretty tough.
I'm a librarian here at University of Houston and I can ask several of the medical librarians what they would recommend. If they know of housing for the patients, etc. I will email the senior librarian at MD Anderson (we used to work together at UH) and see if she can point to any possible resources for you guys. If your family needs a place to stay to get your bearings for a few days, you are more than welcome at our house. We live about 20 minutes from MD Anderson. We have a 6 year old daughter Olivia and a very friendly bulldog. Also, we have plenty of friends with small children, etc in Houston that may be able to help support you all as well.
My husband will have his next scans at MD Anderson on March 11th and 12th so I will be going there with him if you would like to meet in MD Anderson just let me know.
Many prayers for successful trial!
If you want to reach out to me, feel free my email is jbronicki@gmail.com or jbronicki@uh.edu
Good luck,
Jackie Bronicki
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- February 25, 2015 at 1:07 am
Great reply Jackie!
Ashley,
I imagine you will have infusions every 2 or 3 weeks. My trial is every two weeks and I travel about 6 hours one way for it. Not ideal but doable. From check-in to check-out is usually about 5 hours. Seems like it should be closer to 4 hours but it always turns out to be around 5 hours. Sometimes I will do it all in one day if I have a mid-day appointment but that makes for a long day (I always have a driving partner which is what makes the all in one day possible). If it's a morning appointment I get a hotel the night before. My trial pays for about 80% of mileage and hotels which has been nice. At the start of the trial it looked like that was going to be capped at about 3 or 4 hundred dollars which I would have gone though in the first month but after I started the trial they said there was no cap. I would ask your trial coordinator about reimbursements early on. Keep in mind that when you have scans, which will probably be every 8 or 12 weeks you will have to go to MDA for that as well. I have my scans on my week between infusions which is kind of a drag because that means I have a trip 3 weeks in a row.
If it were me and the relatives and housing situation were satisfactory in Dallas I would probably lean toward that option, especially if finances were an important issue, but I would definitely look into Houston options. MDA seems to have a lot of support services that may even provide very affordable housing in the local area.
Good luck,
Brian
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- February 25, 2015 at 1:07 am
Great reply Jackie!
Ashley,
I imagine you will have infusions every 2 or 3 weeks. My trial is every two weeks and I travel about 6 hours one way for it. Not ideal but doable. From check-in to check-out is usually about 5 hours. Seems like it should be closer to 4 hours but it always turns out to be around 5 hours. Sometimes I will do it all in one day if I have a mid-day appointment but that makes for a long day (I always have a driving partner which is what makes the all in one day possible). If it's a morning appointment I get a hotel the night before. My trial pays for about 80% of mileage and hotels which has been nice. At the start of the trial it looked like that was going to be capped at about 3 or 4 hundred dollars which I would have gone though in the first month but after I started the trial they said there was no cap. I would ask your trial coordinator about reimbursements early on. Keep in mind that when you have scans, which will probably be every 8 or 12 weeks you will have to go to MDA for that as well. I have my scans on my week between infusions which is kind of a drag because that means I have a trip 3 weeks in a row.
If it were me and the relatives and housing situation were satisfactory in Dallas I would probably lean toward that option, especially if finances were an important issue, but I would definitely look into Houston options. MDA seems to have a lot of support services that may even provide very affordable housing in the local area.
Good luck,
Brian
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- February 25, 2015 at 1:07 am
Great reply Jackie!
Ashley,
I imagine you will have infusions every 2 or 3 weeks. My trial is every two weeks and I travel about 6 hours one way for it. Not ideal but doable. From check-in to check-out is usually about 5 hours. Seems like it should be closer to 4 hours but it always turns out to be around 5 hours. Sometimes I will do it all in one day if I have a mid-day appointment but that makes for a long day (I always have a driving partner which is what makes the all in one day possible). If it's a morning appointment I get a hotel the night before. My trial pays for about 80% of mileage and hotels which has been nice. At the start of the trial it looked like that was going to be capped at about 3 or 4 hundred dollars which I would have gone though in the first month but after I started the trial they said there was no cap. I would ask your trial coordinator about reimbursements early on. Keep in mind that when you have scans, which will probably be every 8 or 12 weeks you will have to go to MDA for that as well. I have my scans on my week between infusions which is kind of a drag because that means I have a trip 3 weeks in a row.
If it were me and the relatives and housing situation were satisfactory in Dallas I would probably lean toward that option, especially if finances were an important issue, but I would definitely look into Houston options. MDA seems to have a lot of support services that may even provide very affordable housing in the local area.
Good luck,
Brian
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- February 25, 2015 at 2:44 pm
I can see how that plan can become overwhealming because the drive from Dallas to Houston is 5hrs alone. Drive time on top of time spent at MDA could take a toll. I know that there's a charity on the west side of Houston that strives to help patients receiveing medical care in the area. It's not the closest to the medical center, but a 40min drive is easier than 5hrs.
http://www.theballardhouse.org
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- February 25, 2015 at 2:44 pm
I can see how that plan can become overwhealming because the drive from Dallas to Houston is 5hrs alone. Drive time on top of time spent at MDA could take a toll. I know that there's a charity on the west side of Houston that strives to help patients receiveing medical care in the area. It's not the closest to the medical center, but a 40min drive is easier than 5hrs.
http://www.theballardhouse.org
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- February 26, 2015 at 10:06 pm
The Rotary House is just across the street from MDA, and is for patients and their families.
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- February 26, 2015 at 10:06 pm
The Rotary House is just across the street from MDA, and is for patients and their families.
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- February 26, 2015 at 10:06 pm
The Rotary House is just across the street from MDA, and is for patients and their families.
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- February 25, 2015 at 2:44 pm
I can see how that plan can become overwhealming because the drive from Dallas to Houston is 5hrs alone. Drive time on top of time spent at MDA could take a toll. I know that there's a charity on the west side of Houston that strives to help patients receiveing medical care in the area. It's not the closest to the medical center, but a 40min drive is easier than 5hrs.
http://www.theballardhouse.org
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