Amy had her bone marrow transplant at Tufts New England Medical Center in April, 2002. We had the good fortune of staying at The Neely House (sponsored by the Cam Neely Foundation). It is a home away from home and how we longed for Neely House when Amy transferred to Beth Israel for care.

Amy’s father and I, both senior citizens, bit the financial bullet and stayed at the Best Western Inn at Longwood Medical. It is located directly across the street from the hospital and we found we liked to be able to go back and forth easily. Cost with a medical discount is around $100 a night. (342 Longwood Ave., Tel. 800-468-2378).

We, of course, got cell phones. Amy had one on the Unit and used it for long distance calls. We also got Costco phone cards to use when the cell phones roamed or we just wanted to use a land phone. Amy too, had a computer.

I spent a lot of time on the unit and in the solarium, where I met a lot of family members and it was there we told our stories and compared notes. There is also a small library of books and tapes for patient use. We would bring in all our magazines from home to boost the supply of reading matter.

It is a long walk from the garage to the Unit. If Amy were coming in for an admission, we would try and drop her off and grab a wheelchair to put her in with her bag while we parked the car. There is also valet parking.

Another hint. If you think you are going to need a prescription refilled or have a new one, start early in the day getting it all together. If you use the pharmacy at the hospital, there is often an hour or so wait to have something filled. It is also good to wait until they check to see if the prescription will “go through”; sometimes the insurance throws it out and it has to be re-written, or the doctor has to call for permission, etc. One of the most frustrating things is to be ready to leave and you discover the script you dropped off has not been filled and will not be until you reach your doctor. We did find that some of the drugs can be Fed-Ex’d to the house. This was really helpful at times.

Reading all this must sound overwhelming, but you will soon get the hang of it. For the most part, we found people very helpful and caring, and we hope some of these hints will help you avoid the “fools and assassins” we did at times encounter!

Let us know the things you have discovered while in the area that you think might help make the trip easier.