The Hope Lodge
Marshfield, WI
On our same visit to Marshfield to meet with my surgeon, Janet and I went to the Hope Lodge to see what it was like. The Hope Lodge is run by the American Cancer Society and only provides cancer patients and their caregiver accomodations while they are staying in Marshfield to receive treatment at local medical facilities.
We were told about "The Lodge" by my oncologist, Dr. Delmastro. Once the date of my surgery had been scheduled, he filled out all the necessary paperwork for me to stay there during my pre-op appointments and Janet to stay there the entire 11 days. (Throughout my pre-op, surgery, and release from the hospital)
We rang the bell of the Hope Lodge doors and a smiling woman greeted us. I told her we would be staying there in about a week or so, and ask if we could take a tour. She was more than gracious and spent a lot of time taking us around the facility and explaining how it was run.
As soon as we walked into the first main room, I could tell they wanted you to have as close to a home-like feel as possible. Their was a huge "livingroom" area with beautiful decor, stone fireplace, large couches and chairs with a big screened TV. A room connected to the livingroom was a library filled with books, puzzles, and movies. She explained that any of these can be used in the library or taken to your room.
Around the corner was an area with two computers for residents use and further down the hallway was a common area that had coffee, bottled water, juices, fruits, pastries and other snacks. A few steps took us into a huge, open kitchen and dining room area. Actually, there was a total of 4 kitchens within this room. Each resident is assigned a kitchen. This kitchen gives you a place to keep food within a frigerator/freezer, use of stove, microwave, and everything you would need to make and serve a four-course meal!!! You are also given an locked cabinet to keep any dry goods you may want to store. They even had two "common refrigerators/freezers" that residents can freely take any food or condiment they want from them.
The upper floors were set up much like large hotel suites. The suite we saw had wonderful furniture and looked very comfotable. It had a coat closet, and a built-in desk as you enter the room. The livingroom area had a pretty pullout sofa, with matching lounge chair and a TV. The bathroom was exceptionally large with plently of shelving to store personal toiletries. The bedroom was large with a queen size bed, side tables, dresser and closet. Anyone would be more than comfortable in these suites!
On the lower level of the lodge were rooms with specific purposes. A meditation room, an exercise room, a room with toys and play areas for visiting children, a room for classes and meetings, and even a day room where someone who is not a quest could take a nap. Also downstairs was a laundry facility where residents can wash and dry their clothes. They were equipped with detergents, dryer sheets, and even an ironing board and iron.
Janet and I were both blown away by how clean, modern, and wonderful this place was. We could not have felt more thankful knowing we were going to have such wonderful, worry-free, accomodations while going through such a scary time of my journey.
We were told about "The Lodge" by my oncologist, Dr. Delmastro. Once the date of my surgery had been scheduled, he filled out all the necessary paperwork for me to stay there during my pre-op appointments and Janet to stay there the entire 11 days. (Throughout my pre-op, surgery, and release from the hospital)
We rang the bell of the Hope Lodge doors and a smiling woman greeted us. I told her we would be staying there in about a week or so, and ask if we could take a tour. She was more than gracious and spent a lot of time taking us around the facility and explaining how it was run.
As soon as we walked into the first main room, I could tell they wanted you to have as close to a home-like feel as possible. Their was a huge "livingroom" area with beautiful decor, stone fireplace, large couches and chairs with a big screened TV. A room connected to the livingroom was a library filled with books, puzzles, and movies. She explained that any of these can be used in the library or taken to your room.
Around the corner was an area with two computers for residents use and further down the hallway was a common area that had coffee, bottled water, juices, fruits, pastries and other snacks. A few steps took us into a huge, open kitchen and dining room area. Actually, there was a total of 4 kitchens within this room. Each resident is assigned a kitchen. This kitchen gives you a place to keep food within a frigerator/freezer, use of stove, microwave, and everything you would need to make and serve a four-course meal!!! You are also given an locked cabinet to keep any dry goods you may want to store. They even had two "common refrigerators/freezers" that residents can freely take any food or condiment they want from them.
The upper floors were set up much like large hotel suites. The suite we saw had wonderful furniture and looked very comfotable. It had a coat closet, and a built-in desk as you enter the room. The livingroom area had a pretty pullout sofa, with matching lounge chair and a TV. The bathroom was exceptionally large with plently of shelving to store personal toiletries. The bedroom was large with a queen size bed, side tables, dresser and closet. Anyone would be more than comfortable in these suites!
On the lower level of the lodge were rooms with specific purposes. A meditation room, an exercise room, a room with toys and play areas for visiting children, a room for classes and meetings, and even a day room where someone who is not a quest could take a nap. Also downstairs was a laundry facility where residents can wash and dry their clothes. They were equipped with detergents, dryer sheets, and even an ironing board and iron.
Janet and I were both blown away by how clean, modern, and wonderful this place was. We could not have felt more thankful knowing we were going to have such wonderful, worry-free, accomodations while going through such a scary time of my journey.
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