Linda Creps admits it’s been a tough year.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in May. In July, she underwent a double mastectomy. Chemotherapy treatments followed for 16 weeks, from September to December.  

And now Creps, 59, has started treatment at Bay Area Hospital’s Radiation Center.

Every weekday morning for about six weeks, she’ll receive radiation to help fight the disease.

After about three weeks of staying at the center, her treatment is starting to take a toll on her, she said. She’s developing scar tissue that’s beginning to turn pink.  While just a few weeks ago she found herself full of energy, she’s grown increasingly tired in the last few days.

Creps lives in Brookings. She doesn’t know anyone in the Bay Area, and the thought of six weeks worth of motel room receipts while undergoing treatment was unsettling.

But Creps had another option. As a patient at the Radiation Center living more than 50 miles away from the hospital, she’s staying at one of four guestrooms provided by the center to patients. The building housing the rooms is behind the center, just a short walk away.

On Wednesday, Creps, wearing a bright blue shirt and jeans, walked around a common room, where patients and visitors share a kitchen and living area. One wall of the room was brick, the others have large bay windows. She walked down a short hallway into her room, which was small, but had all the features found in a motel room: a TV, two twin beds and a bathroom.

Her husband, Stu, visited her a few weeks ago.

“He’s been up here to see my digs,” she said.

Patients aren’t allowed to stay in the rooms on weekends; housekeeping staff from the hospital come in and change the sheets and tidy up, she said. So each Friday after her treatment, she packs her bags and drives home to Brookings. Once there, she returns to work as a loan processor at the Harbor branch of Chetco Federal Credit Union. After spending the weekend with her husband and two dogs, a Bichon Frise named Lily; and Ollie, a Poodle-Yorkie mix, she drives back to Coos Bay.

“It’s nice to have a place to crash,” she said.

A place to stay

Other local hospitals and clinics provide help to patients or their families coming to the Bay Area for medical care. Some area motels and hotels even offer discounts to help alleviate a bit of the financial and emotional burden.

Dan Jackson, the owner of the Itty Bitty Inn in Coos Bay, said he offers medical discounts to patients and their families as a way to give back to the community.  The inn provides about a 12 percent discount.

“You reap what you sow,” he said. “It’s just plain being nice.”

North Bend Medical Center does not keep patients overnight, said Ian Shull, patient advocate and nurse coordinator at the center. However, patients who are not well enough to travel after receiving treatment at the radiation center can be lodged in that center’s facilities overnight or are taken to Bay Area Hospital, she said.

Families of patients who are staying at Lower Umpqua Hospital in Reedsport can ask for lodging assistance from staff, said Sylvia Tommasino, director of patient care at the hospital. Arrangements for families are on a case-by-case basic, she added.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to accommodate (with) compassion,” Tommasino said.

For patients and their families in the Bandon area, the Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center offers some assistance, but does not recommend any one location, said Lonnie Scarbourgh, chief nursing officer at the hospital. Providing family members with a multitude of choices and prices helps them make an informed decision, she said. But many people traveling to the center often do not need the help.

“Many have family in the area or a friend they’re visiting,” she said.

However, she added, if patients are critically ill, family members can stay with them in their rooms.

Coquille Valley Hospital recommends two locations nearby for visiting families: the Myrtle Lane Motel and the A.J. Sherwood House. Neither offers discounts to patient families, but are reasonably priced, said spokewoman Charlotte Barrett. Like those in Bandon, many families traveling to Coquille end up staying with other family or friends, she added.

Patients and their families at Bay Area Hospital receive pamphlets directing them to discount lodging near the hospital, said a spokeswoman. The pamphlets describe each of the motels, provide their addresses, phone numbers, approximate distance from the hospital and amenities.   

A nice place

Back in her guestroom, Creps talked about how she manages to smile despite the events of the past year. The staff at the center helps keep the mood light, and having a place to rest makes all the difference, she said.

“It’s absolutely phenomenal to have something like this,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”