Hi @mmicahk,
You're doing a terrific job of educating yourself! Way to go!
We flew out of Sacramento, SMF to MSP. MSP to RST. Got a shuttle to the hotel.
The second time we flew SMF to MSP and had a driver to the Courtyard Marriott directly across from St Mary's. This was for my open heart surgery.
Ours was a two and half hour drive (from the north) to Sacramento, then a four hour, non-stop flight from Sacramento to Minneapolis/St Paul. The flight to Rochester is less than an hour. It's about a two hour drive from MSP to Rochester.
I had three days of pre-op scheduled. The last appointment was for the angiogram at St Mary's (where the surgery is performed) and dang, they did not tell me I could not walk and had to use a wheelchair back to the hotel. It's because they went through the femoral artery. If they had used the radial artery, I would be able to walk. That's just a friendly heads up!
Mayo like to use their own equipment, so they don't really care about what your outside labs/xrays/scans/etc show. They will repeat their own. The bonus is the Mayo equipment is state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line, best of the best!
I got some news today from my friend that I mentioned who has Kaiser and her husband had his liver transplant at Mayo/AZ. He requires additional surgery for a bilateral inguinal hernia, and Mayo transferred his care to UCSF, and Kaiser is approving. That's good to know! They are in SF today and his surgery is scheduled for next month. April sometime.
Planning ahead like you are is so much better than being blindsided at a meeting learning you need open heart surgery for something you didn't even know you had! Good for you!!