Long-term lodging options in Rochester while in cancer treatment

Hello, we are traveling to Rochester from North Carolina for my husbands radiation treatment for 7 weeks. This diagnosis has thrown us for a loop (husband diagnosed at age 50 at yearly physical; stage 4b at diagnosis). We have young kids and one of them (age 14) would like to come with grandma to visit us for a weekend or two while we are there for the 7 weeks. I’ve looked into the Hope Lodge as an option however we were wondering if there are any other options that won’t cost us thousands of dollars for the 7 week stay. To say this has been a challenging road is an understatement.

Good afternoon @stephanieh72. I just noticed your post looking for long-term lodging options in Rochester. I am a little confused. My life partner and I stayed at Hope Lodge for 4 weeks while he received daily proton treatments. There was no charge. While there we met folks from other states and countries. We were treated like special guests, given Christmas presents, and entertained by neighboring musical groups. As an example, the junior high basketball team fixed dinner for us. The nursing graduates did the same thing on the night before their ceremony. To top it off, a 10-year-old boy celebrated his birthday by cooking dinner for us with his family's help. Is there some reason why Hope Lodge is not able to accept you? Or are you looking for something more than what Hope Lodge offers? Rochester is a very welcoming city. From getting our car fixed with help from the agency and AAA to sharing evenings with charming folks from around the world.....we were honored as Mayo patients.

How can we help you?
Chris

@stephanieh72 I can offer my prayers, but I'm sure one of the moderators will be along to help you out. They are so compassionate and helpful. Do you think you could get any help by calling Mayo? Sometimes there are Airbnbs which my not be over the top....although I guess everything seems that way now for sure. xo🙏🏼💞

@stephanieh72 I recommend contacting the Serenity House Network. The houses in this network are very clean, very reasonable in cost, and they require that their residents are Mayo Clinic patients.
https://www.shnrochestermn.com/
I stayed in a duplex with two bedrooms while I had radiation therapy at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. You can look at the options and prices on the website. I had a car so I drove every day for radiation and it was only about 2 miles so was a very quick and easy drive. And this was in winter. I would definitely stay with them again if I needed to be in treatment at Mayo Clinic for any length of time.

Alternatively, you can contact the concierge service at Mayo Clinic. They are very helpful and may have other ideas for long term stays.

Mayo Clinic Concierge

— https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/minnesota/concierge-services

I personally stay away from AirBnB. Some people really like the option but I find them to be expensive and inflexible.

Thank you for your reply. We were told that children couldn’t stay at the Hope Lodge and our son (maybe both of them) are coming from the east coast with grandma for part of the trip. Otherwise the only other thing is my husband has been taking this rather hard (stage 4 at diagnosis, gleason 10 etc) and he’s a really introverted person so he was thinking privacy may be good. But you do bring up some good points and maybe the company at Hope Lodge would be good for him, it’s just that he’s struggling and he wants our kids to be able to come as he’s scared to be away from them for so long (his mind goes to some dark places regarding “time”). I hope that makes sense.

Oh my goodness....it does make sense. However.....if you need help of any kind while in Rochester Hope Lodge will see that you get it. They even have staff on call for almost any kind of help. Jay (my life partner) is an introvert personified. He ended up meeting and getting to know other gentlemen and they helped each other. That became very helpful as time went on. I am attaching a photo of him on his last day with a new friend from England as he rang the goodbye bell. (I am with him in the other photo.) Even on quiet nights, we had folks inviting us to sit at their table. Four weeks could have been a long, lonely time and it wasn't. On the last night, we even shared recipes. That was fun. Unfortunately, we don't know about long-term lodging at zero pay. For our short visits, we stay at the Kahler because we don't have to worry about parking and you can get everywhere by using the underground passageways.
This is a pretty rough condition for men who are most known for not even wanting to go for annual check-ups so making them happy is very important. In fact, we are headed that way on Sunday and this time it is an overnight for me.

Stay in touch......I am happy to help in any way possible.
Chris

Good morning,
Check out the Centerstone. They have units with kitchens, a free shuttle service, good location.
Check with the cancer center at Mayo for a “cancer rate” at the Centerstone.
All the best with your treatment.

@stephanieh72, I added your question to the Visiting Mayo Clinic support group as well to gather more tips from members.

I also encourage you to contact Concierge Services at Mayo Clinic. It's a free service and they can help answer your questions about accommodation, getting around, and so much more for when you're in Rochester.
By phone 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Friday: 507-538-8438
Email: concierge@mayo.edu
Online form: http://cdforms.mayoforms.org/mayocliniccom-ahbyn/pages/c9d36544cef4e41180d800155dcfc10f.html

In fact @cheyennepeterson, one of the helpful concierges may add some thoughts to this discussion.

Stephanie, I encourage you, when you're ready, to look at some of the discussions in the Visiting Mayo Clinic support group where members also offer tips and recommendations about restaurants, things to do around Mayo, chapel services, art to visit and more.
- Visiting Mayo Clinic https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/traveling-to-mayo-clinic/

You are allowed visitors at Hope Lodge. When I stayed there in 2019 I had family come from Maine and they stayed in local hotel and we spent time together at Hope Lodge and their hotel and other areas of the city. We then went our separate ways at bedtime. That was precovid. I notice in their posts they are still wearing masks at Hope Lodge but they are having outside people in the facility entertaining etc.. We now stay at Hyatt House since our stays are less than a week and we don’t qualify for Hope Lodge. It is walking distance from downtown. They offer a cancer patient discount and all facilities waive the taxes for stays past 30 days.

I will be scheduling radiation treatments later this year. Radiation Oncology Rochester sent me a list of various options - there is special pricing for people with cancer treatments. The options ranged from hotels to renting private houses. Even said where one could have a dog. Were you given that information?