The Best Resources to Battle Cancer in New York City.
When your loved one is diagnosed, you’ll want the very best resources to battle cancer.
When my dad was diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer over 15 months ago, our whole lives changed… Suddenly we found ourselves practically living in New York City so that he could have access to the best treatment. For us, that was a HUGE change from upstate New York where we actually live.
So, we had to figure out quickly our best resources to battle cancer by determining what made our journey easier and what made our journey more difficult. These are that resources that we are still using today!
These are the absolute best resources to battle cancer…
1. Memorial Sloan Kettering:
If you’re looking for great treatment this is the place I would highly recommend. Sloan is fantastic!! Seriously amazing. In the year and a half, we have been dealing with Lung Cancer they have helped us battle everything! Crazy symptoms, a weird syndrome, and a boatload of setbacks. Through everything, they have walked us through step-by-step.
Sloan is an incredible place that offers hope when it seems like there isn’t a whole lot to be hopeful for. They are always working on new and better ways to kill cancer and they offer treatments, advice and clinical trials that are helping people live longer and better lives.
You can find our review of Memorial Sloan Kettering here…
If you’re ready to check them out and talk to someone, you can find that information here…
2. Memorial Sloan Kettering Shuttle Services:
A free service provided to their patients so that you don’t have to deal with the driving, parking and fighting through traffic to get to the areas you need to go.
The full schedule and locations can be found here, but essentially Sloan provides a free shuttle to transport patients, caregivers, families to their appointments at several Sloan Locations
In addition, if your loved one requires the use of a wheelchair there are vans available with wheelchair lifts to transport you. The best and most accurate information is by the security team at the front entrance of each building.
You can check out the shuttle schedule and locations here…
3. Memorial Sloan Kettering Parking Garage:
This is the cheapest choice for parking that we have found in the City. Without question one of the the best resources to battle cancer. The prices are almost half of anything else you will find in the City. And if you have ever paid for parking in NYC, you will not believe the difference.
You can find all of the parking options for Memorial Sloan Kettering here…
These are the 3 garages that we use frequently.
Westchester MSKCC: Undoubtably the easiest option. They have a HUGE parking lot where you can self-park or use the complimentary valet service and neither option will cost you a dime.
1275 York Avenue- The Main Hospital this garage is located at East 66th Street between First and York Avenues. The garage is one block over from the York Ave entrance. In addition, the parking garage is connected to the hospital so you can get there without going outside if you need to.
Bristol Garage: 300 East 56th Street, between First and Second Avenues.
(The Bristol garage also provides a shuttle service between 53rd street, the Bristol Garage and The Main Hospital. The shuttle runs every 20 minutes.)
4. The Hope Lodge:
We haven’t actually used the Hope Lodge, but I have heard GREAT things about this place. It’s a FREE place to stay for you and your caregiver when your home is far away from your treatment facility. This place is provided to people battling cancer by the American Cancer Society. Currently, there are 30 Hope Lodges within the United States and Puerto Rico.
The New York City Hope Lodge also provides a shuttle to and from treatment at Sloan. When you’re battling cancer the last thing you need to worry about is extensive traveling back and forth or how you’re going to pay for lodging. This situation is long term and can drain you emotionally, physically and financially.
The option for a FREE place to stay might mean the difference between care from your local oncologist and care from a world-renowned center like MSKCC.
You can get more information about the Hope Lodge here…
5. Helmsley Medical Tower:
We’ve spent a lot of nights here during our cancer journey.
As far as resources that help us, this one has saved us, a few times! My mom has some significant mobility issues and my dad acquired a rare neurological syndrome that affected everything (his eyesight, hearing, balance, and mobility) requiring a wheelchair. So, getting treatment in NYC means that they needed some help moving around the City.
That’s where I come in.
The Helmsley Medical Tower has gone above and beyond for my family. They have found rooms for us in the middle of the night when we were rushing into Sloan’s 24-hour urgent care and have extended our stay for multiple nights so that we could attend last minute appointments or stay for additional testing. The staff are FANTASTIC, professional and really helpful!
The rooms are exactly what we need. 2 double beds, a bathroom, a dinner table, a kitchen and a desk and chair where I can work. They offer options such as toilet seat risers and wheelchairs in the lobby in case you need them. We’ve borrowed those wheelchairs a few times!
This hotel is exactly 2 blocks from Sloan’s main hospital, and across the street from New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine (which is part of Cornell University) and the Hospital for Special Surgery are all on the same few blocks. Need to go to 53rd street? No problem. You can grab a shuttle at the main hospital or grab a 10-minute cab ride… up to you.
You can check out the Helmsley Medical Tower here…
6. Seamless:
You have to eat! Seamless provides a TON of menus for takeout in NYC. There is literally every cuisine imaginable and there are endless choices in the area you’re staying. I promise you that if I lived in the City, I would never cook again. The food is fast (sometimes arriving in less than 30 minutes).
Seamless is amazing, the app is SIMPLE to use! And there are options in every cuisine and price range. Not sure what you’re in the mood for… scroll down the gazillion options and take a look at the dishes!! Each listing has both written reviews and a 1-5 star rating system and dollar sign system to indicate cost.
(Note: Watch out for Seamless drivers who are frequently found on bikes. One of our first times ordering breakfast we called the place about an hour later and found out that the delivery driver was hit by a car and was on the way to the hospital… It was terrible!! It also happens pretty frequently from what we hear.)
You can check out Seamless here…
7. Groupon:
Battling cancer sucks! It’s a ton of stress and anxiety and not a whole lot of fun stuff. So, you have to create your own fun. Groupon gives you the opportunity to do some fun stuff at a pretty significant discount. You can check out Broadway shows, restaurants, comedy clubs, museums, events, and activities! There are literally thousands of things to do in NYC, and you can do a lot of them for next to nothing.
More importantly: It’s essential to treatment for you and your loved one to have things to look forward too and to enjoy yourselves a little bit. The stress of this whole situation can really run you down. Find something enjoyable that you can do in the City besides treatment and use Groupon to keep the cost as low as possible.
You can check out Groupon here…
8. Amazon Prime Now:
You’re going to need things. Water bottles, cereal for breakfast, an umbrella, a phone charger, a winter hat. These items and so much more will be delivered right to your door within a couple of hours with Amazon Now. When my husband had surgery and we needed popsicles for his throat after the anesthesia, we had them delivered before we even got back to our room. You can’t beat a system like that…
Are you staying for a while? During radiation (which is weeks of Monday- Friday) we ordered milk, cereal, water bottles, drinks, etc. We saved a ton of money by getting the things we needed before we started the week.
You can take a look at Amazon Prime Now here…
Helping your loved one fight cancer is tough and having to figure out a completely new environment while you’re battling cancer is the last thing you need. These are the best resources to battle cancer that we are still using because they have made our journey so much easier.
What are your best resources to battle cancer?
P.S. If you’re overwhelmed by all this cancer business, we can relate!
The Cancer Binder Pack will walk you through the quick and easy system we used for organizing medical information.
Step-by-step instructions, printable forms, and monthly calendar pages so you can ALWAYS find what you need when you need it. And, the best part it’s FREE…
You can get the Cancer Binder Pack here…
Related Posts: Resources That Help Us ROCK Treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
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