@fuzzlepuff I self referred to Mayo by filling out the questions online to request an appointment. I got a phone call the next day and they set up a temporary account so I could mail in my imaging CDs. I think the call was from the neurosurgery department and they asked further questions about my symptoms and if I wanted to have surgery. I needed spine surgery and was requesting a specific doctor I thought would be a good match for my symptoms because I had read medical literature he co-authored which mentioned specific symptoms that I had. I mailed in the medical records and CDs and it was 5 or 6 weeks later that I got a call offering an appointment because there had been a cancellation and that appointment was 5 days away. I had not heard anything up until that phone call and I had been told a normal wait was around 3 months for a consultation at the time I applied. I accepted and quickly got hotel reservations.

I think what may have helped was that 5 locals surgeons had failed to diagnose me correctly, and I had been seeking help for 2 years while my spine symptoms progressed. I had been rejected by surgeons so many times, and when looking for a new surgeon I was reading medical literature to understand what their interests were. I also have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome which produces overlapping symptoms with cervical spine symptoms and Mayo is familiar with treating TOS, and most doctors miss or misdiagnose TOS. By coming to Mayo, I could be evaluated for both problems, and thought that was needed in order to narrow down the specific causes of my symptoms.