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So yes, I have had a cardiology and neurology appointment scheduled with the Mayo clinic. My PCP sent the referral in to neurology because she did not know how to do a referral to the Mayo clinic for a general internal consultation/diagnostic appointment. She told me that I would be seen over a course of a few days and by different doctors. She had referred her mom and another patient to the Mayo clinic and said that was how it was done. I set up the neurology appointment and had to move it and eventually cancel it due to my work sending me on a mandatory training. That was in June. The Cardiology appointment was scheduled for August but I had to cancel that due to Covid. And Rheumatology could not do anything until I saw Neurology was done with me. So I had all but given up on the Mayo clinic.
I went to the ER at a local hospital for worsening symptoms and the cardiologist there who did my ultrasound of my heart because my primary thought I had adenomyosis of the heart said that I should follow up with Mayo for everything and stated I would see a panel of doctors and I would be seen over several days. I almost cried at that part and tried to explain it to him but he said I was talking to the wrong people.
I had my annual OBGYN appointment with a new OBGYN yesterday and he stated that all my symptoms were complex and puzzling and that I need to try the Mayo Clinic. I explained my experience so far and he stated that was strange because he was under the impression that they saw the patient inpatient and they tested all at once starting from the beginning like nothing was ever done and diagnoses were quick and thorough.
So I am just overwhelmed. I want to hide under a rock. My patients ask me if I have any answers and if I am still sick because of the weight I have lost, the dark circles under the eyes, and the changes in my personality. I have no answers to give anyone. I am so stressed, tired, and full of doubt I will not get answers until it is too late.
Replies to "So yes, I have had a cardiology and neurology appointment scheduled with the Mayo clinic. My..."
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I see. Thank you for explaining. That’s really rough.
This is based on my experience: Your PCP isn’t wrong. It is common when a referral is sent to Mayo (my PCP) did the same, if you’re offered an appointment, they coordinate several appointments, as they described. But as I was mentioning, that doesn’t seem to happen in every case.
If your Neurology consultation was already accepted, even if you had to schedule, that’s actually a huge step forward. Neurology and Cardiology are difficult to get appointments. I’m not sure if you realized this, but Mayo can actually deny to see a patient even with a referral.
It’s up to you how you want to move forward, but I don’t think I’d get too hung up on the “series of appointments.” People are often scheduled that way, but not all the time (again, I wasn’t). It would be great if they did it for you, but you sound like you urgently want to start getting some answers, understandably. You may need to take the lead, and I’m not saying that to be critical of you… Again, I’m saying it as someone who had to take matters into my own hands at Mayo; otherwise literally none of my appointments would have gotten scheduled.
Can you call and reschedule your Neurology, Cardiology, and Rheumatology appointments? You can try to schedule them for the same time frame since you mentioned you saved your vacation time for it.
Alternatively, you could ask your doctor to try calling the referral line and they may be able to get more clarification. From what my PCP shared, it’s not too difficult to reach someone. He was easily able to call. You can send this website to your provider: https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/provider-relations/refer-patient
If your PCP prefers the “series of appointments” situation, maybe they can even change your referral if needed, but that may take more time. Submitting a new referral will probably cause more confusion and might even get denied because most posts I’ve seen here have said they’ve been told at one point or another that they can’t submit too many appointment requests within a certain time frame.
I would set up your Mayo Clinic portal to see what you can see, then call Neurology to ask them what to do. In my experience the department where you’re starting is the one that handles your orders for testing and other consultations and also needs to work with you to schedule those things. They’re supposed to call you to schedule, but some departments are too overwhelmed to do it.
That way, you go direct to the people who are supposed to be helping you schedule to get some answers.