good advice re booking ahead - but also remember i think it was jensrib who found st. christopher house, via exempla st. josephs hospital (which is just 2 blocks south of presbyterian/st. lukes, which both dr. annest and dr. brantigan operate out of) - she and her family members were able to stay there for a VERY affordable rate while jen was having TOS surgery a few months back with dr. annest... (well, obviously jen was in pres/st. lukes for part of that stay), but as many of you know, doc annest likes his TOS patients to remain in denver post-op for at LEAST 10 to 14 days if they are able, to take advantage of the wonderful PT protocols specifically developed for post rib-resection, scalenectomy, pec minor or lat procedure, whatever the case may be that he and his colleagues there have very painstakingly developed for us. (jen found these accommodations on her own, and they are closer to the hospital than the "new" inn, which is up and running but i gather a few miles away from pres/st. lukes and in the "wrong" direction towards 'dangertown' if you know what i mean...) annest wants you to remain for the post-op surgical visit too, natch. he typically won't release you to go back home for at least 10 days as i recall. ideally, that is. i know he's not your surgeon, itos, i'm just sayin'...

you can call up jensrib's threads by entering her poster name in the 'advanced search' link underneath the 'search' bar located in the upper righthand portion of your screen, (and this is for gail, as well, if she is interested [hi, gail! nice to see you!]) also, use the basic search aspect to find surgery tips by entering keywords. use technical terms like "frozen peas," "recliner," etc. hahaha just trust me on this. or just the word "surgery" should bring up some threads for you. (or maybe some lunch !!)

the rates at st. christopher house, as well as the accommodations, from what i can recall of jen's description anyhow, sound pretty similar to the inn at pres/st. lukes when it was attached to the hospital. clean, but basic. $30 - $40 a night (depending on amenities like a/c, fridge in room); reduced rate available for hardship; sliding scale if stay extended beyond 2 consecutive weeks (can't vouch all terms will be identical, mind you, but i would definitely inquire). also make sure to ask for hospital discount, cafeteria discount, all that good stuff. hospital discounts are available on rental cars i know if you get them near the hospital - ask your surgeon's coordinator about this stuff.

there were sure a lot of plusses for me and first my kid, then my brother staying so close to the hospital - even though my daily PT was all the way over in lakewood, with jason cherry MSPT, COMT (who is awesome and a crack-up to boot), so i had to be schlepped over there cuz i couldn't drive myself (i actually took the bus, a few timez...). like my surgeon's office was right across the street in case i had any complications or any questions. the pharmacy was right there, too. saved a ton of $ eating in the hospital cafeteria (25% discount and the food wasn't bad; i even got used to drinking orange milk (bronco season thang)). basement tunnel access to the hospital or a block and half walk, either way got me to the medical library and free internet which meant i could log onto the OBT forum (many of you guys were on there then and you SAVED ME; i'm sure you didn't even know it at the time - scary surgery in a strange city and there were a few days when neither my daughter nor my bro' could be with me so YOU WERE IT!). and it was pretty centrally located. 16th street mall in one direction, cherry creek in another. loved that aspect.

sorry for the ramble. denver is a wonderful place and i have never, ever seen the sky sooooooooo big. itos, i hope you find the answers you need there. of course, try entering doc sanders' name in the search function, too, and you may very well find more of his patients that way - the obvious one that comes to mind is annie (la31), who just had a scalenectomy and pec minor release performed by him last spring. but she is being a very good patient right now and staying off of the computer, so i think it has been very hard for her to post, unfortunately... always a good idea to ask the dr.'s office to give you the names of some of his other surgical patients for you to speak with directly, though and they will be HAPPY to to that.

you have my phone number, right? so call me and i'll tell you all about some of the fun stuff we did in CO as well as about my surgery with dr. annest if you'd like. i really did have a pretty great experience there.

all things considered, that is...

alison
"Be Brave"