1) Talk to your mortgage lender
about suspending your mortgage payments. Interest will continue
to accumulate, but they should agree to suspend it for a few months
without too much of a fight.
2) Have your spouse or care-giver
talk to their disability insurer about care-giver benefits if
they intend to take a leave of absence from their work.
3) Air Canada makes you use their
oxygen service while flying. It costs $150 per leg and requires
discussions and exchanges of paperwork between your physician
and theirs. Westjet allows you to use your own oxygen. Not too
sure about Porter Airlines, but I would expect that you can use
your own with them as well.
4) If you’re driving to Toronto,
take enough oxygen to get you there. Vitalaire has no affiliate
in the province of Quebec. The best place to exchange canisters
is in Edmundston, NB. The Vitalaire depot is in the Shopper’s
Drug Mart behind the mall just off the highway. They are strictly
exchange though. They won’t give you any more than the empties
you bring in.
5) In Toronto, Vitalaire is located
in Mississauga, but make deliveries downtown two days per week.
6) Porter flies into City Centre
Airport and has a free shuttle that goes to a few of the downtown
hotels and Union Station.
7) Ground Transportation from Pearson
is about $50 in a taxi, even more in a limo. There is a downtown
hotel bus for about $18 ($28 open return). Bus and subway combo
is $2.75.
8) Transit passes for TTC are probably
the way to go for most people. Monthlies are about $100, weeklies
are about $35 and dailies are $9. They are transferable and allow
unlimited usage. They cover subway, bus and streetcars. The normal
fare is $2.75 per ride. The TTC is very confusing and they are
pretty sticky when it comes to using transfers. My understanding
is that you can’t use a transfer to go back in the direction
you came in any way shape or form. Also, if you’re transferring
from bus or streetcar to the subway, you can only do so at the
subway stations that have bus or streetcar service. If you have
a day, week or monthly pass, you don’t have to worry. If
you wait until the first Monday of the month to buy your pass,
you’ll be in the same boat as thousands of other commuters.
Best to get it a few days ahead of time.
9) Be sure to ask what status you’re
going to be placed on the waiting list. If you’re “Urgent”,
you shouldn’t be waiting more than 3 months, so you’ll
likely be home in 6 months. No need to enter a 1-year lease. If
you’re “Priority”, chances are you’ll
be on the waiting list for 6 months or more.
10) Toronto General Hospital is
located at Queen’s Park Subway Station which is on the University/Yonge
Line (North/South) which is U-shaped and goes all the way to Downsview
in the west and to Finch in the East. Union Station is downtown
and at the apex of this line and connects here with the Go-Train
and Via Rail. Apartments close to the hospital are quite expensive,
but if you’re healthy enough, being on this subway line
may be a good option. This station has an elevator and an escalator
as do Union, Osgoode, Queen, Dundas, Spadina, St. George, Bloor-Yonge,
St. Clair, Davisville, Eglington, Eglington West, York Mills,
Sheppard-Yonge, Downsview and Finch. Most of these neighbourhoods
are fine. There are a few “accessible” subway stops
on the Bloor-Danforth (East/West) line, but some of those neighbourhoods
are a little dicey.
11) Quite a few of the patients
live in LuCliff Apartments. This is on Bay and (I think) Edward,
between TGH and the Delta Chelsea. There are a handful of apartment
buildings in this general vicinity. I think it’s called
“midtown” if you search the real estate ads. They’d
all be about a block away and a $5 cab ride each way to TGH. As
patients get released from the program, they are more than willing
to get rid of the furniture they’ve accumulated. In fact,
I was told there is normally a pile of furniture in the underground
parking at LuCliff that is free-issue. Departing patients may
also be looking to sublet their apartments. Look for notices in
the Treadmill room at TGH or on notice boards in the buildings
themselves.
12) There is metered parking on
the street in front of the TGH. It’s available after 9:30am,
which coincidentally is when the Treadmill Room opens. Parking
in the Hospital’s parking lot is EXTREMELY expensive –
like $5 or $6 an hour. Parking, in general, is very scarce and
very expensive throughout the downtown.
14) Everyone in the program gets
their bloodwork done at TGH before 9:00am on Monday mornings.
The wait can be long (1 ½ hours). Best to get there early
– before 8:00.
15) Grocery stores and gas stations
are very scarce in the downtown. Make sure you can live with an
apartment’s proximity to these amenities before you commit.
There are quite a few Quickie-mart type places in the downtown.
The best are called Raba and are usually on the ground floors
of upscale condos, however none have parking. The prices at Raba
are typically quite comparable to Loblaws, Dominion and Sobeys
and they almost always have really good deals on fresh fruit,
deli items, yogourt and cheese.
16) Chinatown is located on Spadina
between Dundas and the U of T. Shopping here is an experience.
Great deals on fresh foods, pastries, asian cooking ingredients,
tourist apparel, trinkets, silks, etc. Lots of reasonable restaurants
and sandwich stores. Kensington Market is located almost within
Chinatown.
17) The Blue Jays offer season
tickets for $99. There are a limited number of them in a promotion
with the Toronto Star at the beginning of the season. Otherwise,
tickets can be had for as little as $9 per game. Ask at the box
office for the handicapped section or a seat that requires as
few steps as possible. They’ll put you near an elevator
or escalator.
