Sloan Kettering Hospital
As I wrote earlier, Lee had cancer and was operated on at Sloan Kettering Hospital. Yesterday, Lee told me make a post about Sloan and share anything that can help someone else going to Sloan.
Parking:
Parking under Sloan Kettering Hospital is easy. It cost about $35 a day. But here’s the thing – when you leave Sloan Kettering after an operation, they don’t want you to drive so they have someone escort you downstairs so make sure to bring someone to drive your car. When you leave, you put the ticket they gave you into a machine and pay by credit card or you can pay cash at the register.
Bring:
a) Bring some newly purchased things that your loved one would be excited about: a new book, balloons, something to hang up on the bulletin board near your loved one’s bed (there are magnets to hold up paper).
b) Bring stuff from home for your loved one – regular clothes, toiletries, a quilt and pillow.
c) Bring a sweater or sweatshirt for yourself – Sloan is chilly.
d) A deck of cards – there are so many card games to play alone or with others
e) Headphones – the hospital has headphones, but not the ones you are used to using.
f) Singles and quarters to get bottle water from the machine on your floor – if you don’t have change, you can get it from the gift shop or cafeteria, both on the second floor.
Where to Wait While Your Loved One Is Being Operated on:
a) Lee was in the 6th floor operating room. There are also operating rooms on the second floor. The nurses will tell you to wait on the first floor waiting area. But everyone was sneezing and coughing there. I went to the 15 floor and sat outside on their rooftop. The nurse goes to the second floor to speak to you every hour. If you aren’t there, she calls your cell phone. Lee’s surgery was three hours long so I got a lot of calls and sun.
b) You can also wait in the recreation room. I sat at one of the tables, plugged my laptop in and waited for the nurse’s call. The room was mostly quiet and peaceful in the morning and louder in the afternoon.
The Hospital Has:
a) A reclining chair for you to stay the night (a nurse will get you sheets, blankets and pillows if you let her know you want to stay)
b) Great coffee and juice in the pantry (each floor has a pantry with free refreshments for patients and their families)
c) Caring Canine Program – volunteers at the hospital bring their dogs to visit you. If you are a dog lover, call the volunteer department and ask to get a visit from one of their dogs. See Lee’s dog visitors here.
d) An active recreation room on the 15th Floor – plus a young adults room too. The recreation room looks like a library with a 2 pianos, a fish tank and tables and chairs. In the closet are plenty of puzzles and games. The recreation room has an outdoor balcony that patients and guests can hang out on all day and in the evening. I brought Lee here every day so he could get fresh air and be away from the hospital for a bit. You can’t smoke out on the balcony – below is the great view:
e) A gift shop on the second floor that sells balloons, playing cards, Starbucks coffee and snacks.
Food in the area:
a) If you like Cuban food, Sofie’s is great (and inexpensive for NYC). It is at 401 East 68th Street – a lot of the nurses from Sloan go there).
b) Sloan Kettering’s cafeteria is actually good and inexpensive. They have two sections for their cafeteria (one is behind the other). The second room has a good Mongolian Grill on Thursdays.
c) Chipotle is on 1st Avenue and 69th Street.
Hotel in the area:
a) I had a hotel room in the area booked because I was able to go there to shower, change and nap. It’s hard to sleep in the hospital chair and hear all the hospital sounds every night. I booked it through my credit card because it allowed me to change the dates without penalty (it’s February so I wasn’t sure if a snowstorm would have kept Lee’s doctor away).
This video the hospital made was pretty good too:
Hugs,
marlene
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