Hello everyone!  I hope this post is finding you doing well.  I’m still chugging along.  In this post, I will tell you about The Mayo Clinic, how I got into it and what happened the week we were there.  The way things are done there is so different from what I am used to from all the other places I’ve been!

In my last post, I told you that my G.I. surgeon told me that he would talk to some of his contacts about getting me into The Mayo Clinic.  Well, I waited and waited and on occasion I would drop him an email to check the progress and to “remind” him if nothing had been done yet.  In the meantime, I have a drain in my bladder that the doctors told me I would have to keep in until I see someone from Mayo.  I was getting anxious to see someone and get this thing out!  One day, I was sitting at the computer and decided to look up The Mayo Clinic to get some information about it.  As I was scrolling, I noticed there was a button on the right that said, “make an appointment.”  I thought to myself, “It can’t be that easy to get into Mayo because my doctor is trying and can’t even get into it.”  So I push the button to see what would happen.  Low and behold the page was asking for my information and what time would be a good time for them to call me!  They called me the next day and I made an appointment to see them!  When I thought about it, I became furiated at my surgeon because supposedly he had been “working” on this for 8 months and kept telling me that it was difficult to get in and I just pushed a button and made an appointment all in a day!  

Within a couple of weeks, The Mayo Clinic sent me a schedule of tests and consultations that I will be going through during our visit.  It was a whole week’s worth (Monday-Friday)!  I had all kinds of consultations with several doctors and all kinds of test, some I’ve never even heard of!  This had just become real to me!

We went up to Rochester, Minnesota on a Sunday because my first appointment was early Monday morning.  It took my husband and I around 8 hours to get there.  When we arrived at the hotel, I noticed they had a shuttle sign-up sheet to go to and from Mayo. Nice.  We put our things up and left to find food.  We tried one of Minnesota’s staples – cheese curds.  They are delicious!!!  Everytime we go there now, that’s the first food we look forward to eating!

We get to The Mayo Clinic and WOW, this compound is huge!  Even though it is huge, it is so easy to manuver around.  My initial consultations were an hour long.  The doctors literally ask every question you could think of.  They were thorough in everything they asked and they actually listened to what you had to say.  Throughout the week I also had all kinds of tests such as MRI’s, CT scans, drain checks, blood draws, ostomy checks, colonoscopies, endoscopies and others that I never had before and can’t remember the names of the tests.  I literally felt like a guinea pig after the week ended but we learned so much about how Mayo works.  We love that place!  Since then, we have been back 3 times.

The Mayo Clinic is definately worth a try if you feel your care needs a boost.  My Crohn’s has been a trouble maker every since I turned 40.  I’ve had this since I was 25 and it seems like the older I get, the more troublesome my Crohn’s gets. I will definately go back because I love the way the people treat me.  They actually listened to what I have to say about what is going on with my body.  The next post will tell you what recently happened during a surgery that I had at Mayo.  If you have any questions about Crohn’s, Colitis or Mayo, please feel free to ask! I have also added a link to the Mayo Clinic to the right of my post if you would like to view their website.  Remember to take this disease one day at a time.  Right now, I need to take my own advice.

Chow for now!

Kelly