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twobike

I have been on the Cleveland Clinic site several times, and have found out a lot of things that I needed to know. I haven't talked to anyone yet though. I was wondering if anyone that has traveled to CC for surgery could answer some of these questions.

1. Do they have lockers that you can rent?
2. Do they set up you plane reservations?
3. Is there a dicount to heart patients traveling by air?
4. Can the spouse eat and order meals in the room and pay for them then?
5. Can the spouse shower in the patients room?
6. Can you use your lap top in the hospital, do they have Wi Fi?
7. Can you stay with the patient while they are in ICU?
8. How long were you there and what did you have done?
9. Did you stay in the area after being discharged and if so how long?
10. Who performed your surgery?

I know I had more questions, but I can't think of them right now. I will add later.

Thank you in advance,
Sharon
 
twobike said:
I have been on the Cleveland Clinic site several times, and have found out a lot of things that I needed to know. I haven't talked to anyone yet though. I was wondering if anyone that has traveled to CC for surgery could answer some of these questions.

1. Do they have lockers that you can rent?
2. Do they set up you plane reservations?
3. Is there a dicount to heart patients traveling by air?
4. Can the spouse eat and order meals in the room and pay for them then?
5. Can the spouse shower in the patients room?
6. Can you use your lap top in the hospital, do they have Wi Fi?
7. Can you stay with the patient while they are in ICU?
8. How long were you there and what did you have done?
9. Did you stay in the area after being discharged and if so how long?
10. Who performed your surgery?

I know I had more questions, but I can't think of them right now. I will add later.

Thank you in advance,
Sharon
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1. Not that I'm aware of, but they do have a patient vault to place your expensive items in. I would recommend leaving those at home anyhow.

2. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/patients/hospitalstay/concierge.aspx
3 Just like the concierge at a fine hotel, your Cleveland Clinic medical concierge will help facilitate and coordinate your visit.

We provide these services:

Assistance with coordinating multiple appointments
Assistance with hotel and house reservations, and provision of discounts when available
Connection with American Express One, a business travel service, to schedule or confirm airline reservations
Arrangement of taxi or car service between the airport and hotel
Information about leisure activities for family members

3. Not to my knowledge.

4. I beleive the option is open to you and your spouse. If not, there are plenty of places to eat at in the facility.

5. No

6. Not sure they have WiFi, but they do have internet access and computers.

7. There are severly restricted hours in ICU, but if your significant other is persistent about staying, and I do mean PERSISTENT, they will accomodate them.

8. I was in for a ruptured thoracic aorta aneurysm. I spent almost 2 months in ICU. No, I was not a normal patient. I was a flown in emergency surgery patient.

9. It's not usually necessary to stay in the area after discharge. Some have, but the longest I know of was 5 days.

10. Dr. Patrick McCarthy who is no longer there, but at NorthWestern in Chicago now.
 
I didn't use the CC but rather the Mayo Clinic. Even though they let my husband sleep in my room, they absolutely would not let him shower there...in fact he wasn't even allow to use the potty. They had a restroom down the hall for visitors to go in. Also, even though they also offered a service to make your plane reservations, it was pretty much just a travel agent and it was actually a little more expensive than if we made them ourselves.

Good luck figuring all of this out. Alot of us travelled for our surgeries and I think, for the most part, it wasn't really that big of a deal.

Kim
 
We stayed at the CC House, a hotel across the street from the clinic when I went for testing. Very accomodating. We plan to use it again when I go for my surgery in the spring. They say the new heart center building has rooms like a hotel suite with a pull out couch, etc. We did not have an opportunity to see them. I am planning to have my husband there in the room as much as possible. Had not considered ICU visiting. May try the PERSISTENT route.........thanks Ross. I know of at least three on this forum who went to CC for surgery by air (non-emergency). Perhaps they will be along soon. Jennifer
 
My chariot:

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They do have wi-fi although the service was intermittent during my five week stay in July/August. You definitely can request guest trays for every meal, it is up to them what they send and it is added to your bill, not sure if the insurance paid for it or not. Dr. Bruce Lytle performed my surgery however, he is now the head of the heart insitute and operates rarely now. I wish you well.
 
My husband had an aneurysm repair/bicuspid aortic valve repair by Dr. Lars Svensson in 2007. The new heart facility was not open then but I do have a friend who just returned from there. She said the new facility is incredible. You will not be allowed to stay in CICU but of course, you will be allowed to stay once the patient is in a room. All of the rooms are private now which I think is best for the patient and the family. While you have someone in CICU, I think you need to go back to the hotel and sleep after the last visiting hours. You can call through the night if you want to, and they won't hesitate to call you if they feel you need to be there. Take advantage of the opportunity to sleep. As a caregiver, you need all the rest you can get for the days to follow! I agree with an earlier post about airfare. I arranged less expensive airfare than the concierge at CC. There are no discounts offered for those traveling to CC......most people travel to get there!!!!
 
Thanks everyone for all the answers. I have started looking into air fare, but it all depends on when you go and changes a lot. Guess I will just have to consider the high side and go from there when the time comes. Saw where hotel ranges from $104 a night if weekly to $125 if daily. Guess we would be there at least two weeks, probable a lot longer. My other option is my brother-in-laws RV and stay up in Ohio unitl well enough to travel back home by car. Think He would rather fly and get back home sooner.
 
I had an aortic valve and aortic root replacement at the CC in November. We made the trip by car (only 2 1/2 hours away), so I can't answer all of your questions. I was in the ICU for 6 days and another 3 in a regular room. The new facility had just opened. The rooms are beautiful, and there is a sofa that turns into a bed for your spouse--my husband said it was VERY HARD. Nobody ever told him that he couldn't use the shower, but he never wanted to. He had a room at the InterContinental Suites on campus, and except for the first two nights that I was out of the ICU and afraid to be alone, he slept there. He was offered a tray when he was there at mealtime, but never got one--I didn't have any appetite, so if he was hungry, he ate my food. There's a nice food court with lots of choices that he got a lot of take-out from and was able to bring me some semi-appetizing food if I wanted it. Dr Gosta Pettersson did my surgery, and I guess he was good, as I'm doing fine and have had no complications. After the surgery, he came into the ICU every day to see me for about 30 seconds, and once I was moved from there, I never saw him again. My husband was able to use his laptop in the ICU waiting room, I think. None of my family asked to stay in the ICU with me, and it was so full of machinery that I don't think there was anywhere for anyone to even sit. I was discharged on a Thursday at dinner time, stayed in the hotel that night, and then drove home the next morning.

Hope this helps a little. If you have any other questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them if I can.
 
I am at the point where I will be getting the written results of my heart cath. Then I will call a nurse at CC and discuss my problem with her.

How long does it take to get an appointment? If you want an appointment with one of the "big guns" doctors, how difficult is it to get? Can you get an appointment for a procedure simply by sending records, or do you have to go to Cleveland, be seen by a doctor, and then return later for the operation?
 
Braveheart said:
I am at the point where I will be getting the written results of my heart cath. Then I will call a nurse at CC and discuss my problem with her.

How long does it take to get an appointment? If you want an appointment with one of the "big guns" doctors, how difficult is it to get? Can you get an appointment for a procedure simply by sending records, or do you have to go to Cleveland, be seen by a doctor, and then return later for the operation?
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Good questions. I'd like an answer to those also, as I'm getting closer to getting a mechanical myself, and considering the Cleveland Clinic.
 
My husbands cardiologist said it would take about a month to get scheduled for surgery. I was under the impression that it would take more like 5 or 6 months. Some where in all my reading I came up with that number. I was wondering if he got in touch with CC before letting us know as he has already checked with us twice on where we wanted to go. Also I thought that there was a charge to have them look at your records and that this was not covered by insurance. I have read so much so many places that I don't know if I got the info here on a search or not. I think the charge was around $500-$600. Anyone know anything about that? Hope I'm not miss leading any of you. And maybe that is only if you approch the hospital on you own rather than through a cardiologist? Again, thank all of you for your replies. They have been very helpful.
 
Sharon,
I suggest you make your own flight reservations and make them for a few extra days than you expect. That way if you need to stay a little longer it will not be a problem and if you are out sooner than expected I think it is easier for airlines to give you a standby seat at no extra cost. Although we found that the airline allowed us to extend our return flight a few extra days at no extra cost because the change was medically related. You might also select an airfare that allows changes for a small fee increase over a cheaper fare that charges a lot to change times.

The three hotels associated with CC range from 5-star to fairly nice and all are expensive (>$100/night). Outside motels seemed to be too far away. We found a way to save money through a really neat program called "Hospitality Homes" where you can stay with a host family for a small fee (~$35/night). My S.O. stayed with this really sweet elderly lady in a nice home near the country club. You get your own bedroom and she allowed kitchen privileges. If you go this route they will request references and they will call them and check you out to make sure you are legit. We flew in and rented a car (a flashy convertible was all they had!) so my S.O. could drive back and forth, about 20 minutes each way. Try to rent something with a large back seat because that is were the patient has to ride when he leaves the hospital. Don't get the compact or convertible.

You need to have a place to stay so that you can retreat and gather yourself and not spend every minute at the hospital. Trust me you will need a little "me" time. Really you do not need to be there every minute. I think the only time I wanted family to spend the night was the first night out of ICU. There are lots of reasonably priced choices for food at CC and a few interesting restaurants at the edge of the campus.

The day of my discharge really wore me out and I wanted to hang out nearby for a while, so we stayed two days at the Hospitality Home before flying back home, which was also a tiring day, but I was really glad to be home by then.

I'm glad I made the trip to CC and I would do it again if needed.
John
 
I'm thinking a hotel on campus would be nice. Even if I don't use it much, my 2 children would be coming in and his brother, sister and a sister-in-law would prbable stop for a night. Hard to keep close family away. We worry about each other.
 
twobike said:
Also I thought that there was a charge to have them look at your records and that this was not covered by insurance. I have read so much so many places that I don't know if I got the info here on a search or not. I think the charge was around $500-$600. Anyone know anything about that?
Click to expand...

I called their toll-free number and got a really helpful cardiac case nurse who assigned me a top surgeon. I think they assign a surgeon that has skills that match your needs. My insurance was really good and allowed as many second, third or whatever opinions as necessary and they paid for my CC consultations. Call your insurance carrier and check if they will pay. CC called and got my pre-approval for surgery with my insurance taken care of for me. Luckily CC was within the preferred providers of my insurance carrier.

CC also had me collect all of my cardio's reports and videos of my most recent echos and my angiogram (I even copied and watched them on my computer). They prefer that you gather this stuff because many doctor offices leave something out. The CC nurse even emailed me a list of stuff for me to send. After they got it all they provided a recommendation and then scheduled me to come there for some final examinations (xrays, blood work, CTA, and cardio visit). They planned to do this a few days before surgery but I needed more time so I did the check up stuff about 2 weeks before my surgery date, then I flew on to another location to visit relatives and then returned home in Colorado. I later returned for surgery. I used frequent flier miles for all the airfare so the trips really were expensive only because of the rental car and motel stays.

I Hope this helps. I'm only four days from my 1-year anniversary and I feel I owe a little to this site and the people that helped me when I was about where you are now.
Take care,
John
 
twobike said:
I'm thinking a hotel on campus would be nice. Even if I don't use it much, my 2 children would be coming in and his brother, sister and a sister-in-law would prbable stop for a night. Hard to keep close family away. We worry about each other.
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If you want the most convenience and are flush with $$ then the InterContinental is within the hospital- you don't have to go outside to get around. I Suggest the InterContinental suites which is also nice, includes a kitchenette, and is only a block or two from the hospital and they run a shuttle. The Guest house is OK, a little dated, but acceptable.
John
 
I made all the CC arrangements on my own--I knew which cardio I wanted to see (specializes in congenital heart disease) and dealt with his office first. I had a lot of problems with the secretaries and PAs not doing things as quickly as I thought was necessary. I had been told at home that I needed surgery ASAP, but the PA didn't want me to come for a consultation with the cardio for several months. It seemed like I had to be very pushy and insistent, but eventualy I got an appointment with him and he referred me to the surgeon he thought would be best. From the time I sent in my records to be looked at to the time I had surgery was 4 months. There was no charge for them to go over my records.
 
twobike said:
.... I was wondering if anyone that has traveled to CC for surgery could answer some of these questions.

My FIL has surgery there at CC, Weston, Fl.

1. Do they have lockers that you can rent? Not sure
2. Do they set up you plane reservations??
3. Is there a dicount to heart patients traveling by air? NO
4. Can the spouse eat and order meals in the room and pay for them then?We ate at cafeteria downstairs
5. Can the spouse shower in the patients room? NO...none was allowed to use the bathroom other than the patient
6. Can you use your lap top in the hospital, do they have Wi Fi? YES
7. Can you stay with the patient while they are in ICU?Yes...my hubby and his brother alternated to sleep nights in ICU on a long recliner chair...comfy
8. How long were you there and what did you have done?
9. Did you stay in the area after being discharged and if so how long?
10. Who performed your surgery? I heard Dr. Boyd is good
Click to expand...

We stayed at the Mariott Residence which is ten minutes walk from the hospital...we were given a special discount rate when we mentioned we had family member at CC.
 
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