Author: /u/btgio

My mother was recently diagnosed with stage IV mixed acinar-neuroendocrine carcinoma, a rare form of pancreatic cancer. We were extremely fortunate to get in with a neuroendocrine specialist at MD Anderson and have been traveling from Corpus Christi to Houston bi-weekly for appointments/chemotherapy.

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While getting this specialized care is invaluable, the ancillary costs are mounting and causing a serious financial burden. At this point, after paying ~$700 per hotel stay, it would make more sense to get a short-term apartment lease that spans the length of her treatment. Unfortunately, after a month of trying to find an apartment, an airBNB, anything, that matched our specific (but not uncommon) needs. We already have an apartment at home in Corpus, so we would be double paying rent if we got a place to stay in Houston. That puts on a very tight budget of around $1500, and that is before you factor in utilities as well as the price to rent furniture for the apartment.

My mom’s primary oncologist is in the med center but she gets her infusions in Sugar Land, so my search encompasses both the med center and Sugar Land/Stafford/Missouri City. But nothing feasible seems to be popping up. Unfortunately, most of the charity/foundation established housing options for cancer patients are either shut down due to COVID or can’t accommodate one of our needs (a dog, for example). But the commercial options have been just as impossible.

I am desperate to find an accommodation for my mother and I, so I am just putting this post into the universe hoping someone on here might know an area, a leaser, an option, etc that I have not yet thought of. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.