Surgery at Mayo or Locally?

I have never posted before! However, I feel compelled to comment on this topic. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2025 and eight weeks later was diagnosed with rectal cancer. I was a 67 year old female at diagnosis.

I chose to have my three surgeries in four months at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. I have flown eight times in eight months. The surgeons at Mayo do a lot of surgery, thus, they are very good at it. Additionally, the Mayo checks for negative margins in real time while you are in surgery. This is critical for optimal results. I would also like to point out that Mayo nurses are in a class by themselves...and they take care of you.

Should your treatment require radiation in the future, you will be in line. I had a Mayo oncologist tell me, "You can have chemo anywhere, but radiation needs to be at the Mayo." I had five days of rectal radiation prior to ileostomy surgery. I also had fifteen days of breast radiation after total right mastectomy.

One additional consideration, the Mayo business office goes to bat for you when confronted with insurance issues.

I reside in a location with three comprehensive cancer centers; but I still chose surgery and radiation at the Mayo; and am very happy I did.

Sending Mayo magic your way.

@gap1 excellent post ! I live in Manhattan and do all my medical things at NYPresbyterian, a great medical center ! And everything was well coordinated, like you describe at Mayo… getting various aspects of treatments in different small places also has its challenges…wishing you the best !

@ttetrick, I hope you saw the helpful and insightful post from @gap1, seconded by @nycmusic.
It must've been a shock to discover that you had a mass in your colon, especially at 45.

If you would like to look into getting care at Mayo Clinic or for your doctor to submit a referral, you can start here: https://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

Have you learned more about the diagnosis? Have you decided what you're going to do next?

I had almost the exact same experience as you. Age 45 and had appt for first routine colonoscopy when I got sick this past December. Everything fast tracked when doctor ordered a CT because I noticed a lump in my lower left quadrant. Multiple tests, colonoscopy and I was diagnosed officially beginning of Feb this year. Things got hung up locally with trying to get a biopsy done on my hip to see if there was spread over two weeks out. I contacted Mayo, got in within four days, had the biopsy there at that time and it was deemed benign and had surgery on the 12th. We would have still been waiting on CT results at home. We are seven hours away from Rochester and have driven since flights would take just as long. Now I am back home post-surgery and at least want to share some drawbacks. If I have issues like incision drainage, I am not near Mayo. Trying to figure out the transition from Mayo to my local providers is somewhat frustrating. Mayo is pretty responsive to messages on the app and phone calls thankfully. Hope you are able to gather enough info to make the decision that’s best for you.