Econsult or Second Opinion?

Hi,

If you don’t mind me asking, what does the specialist mean by “abnormal vessel “? That sounded kinda vague. Maybe I’m the old fashioned type. I prefer meeting my specialist face to face and not through a screen, even for my kid. I understand the challenges you will face going there. To be honest I live 17 hours flight time away from Mayo. My Filipino caregiver requires a visa but my nationality allows visa free entry up to 90 days.

I know Mayo is good with epilepsy treatment and if it can treat something which I have for approx 10 years and improve my quality of life, I’ll say go for it whatever it takes. After all, how many 10 years does a person have to spend like this?

If I hadn’t seek a 2nd opinion elsewhere, I wouldn’t have known and taken Briviact which seemed to work better. Neurologists tend to be a little more cautious. Just my opinion. At the end. Worse comes to worst, your son is back to where he started.

Cheers,
Louis

Hi @rayrayray
Welcome to our group at Mayo Clinic Connect!
I myself had a virtual appointment with Mayo back in 2021, during Covid times, when flying to the US was rather complicated. Being an international patient, I was able to schedule it through this link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/international/appointment-process.
I'm tagging our moderator @lisalucier , who can tell you more about scheduling remote appointments for people inside the US.
Wishing you and your child all the best! 💜
Chris

Hi @rayrayray, Mayo Clinic welcomes both new and existing patients for virtual and in-person care in adherence with federal and state executive orders and guidance. Virtual care or eConsults for a second opinion is available for out-of-state patients IF the provider you are seeing is licensed in the state where you live. Not every doctor is licensed in every state.

Video and phone visits can be great options for appointments before, after or in place of face-to-face care. Appointment coordinators will recommend a virtual visit if it best fits your individual needs.

Here is more information and how to get started with submitting an appointment request: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

Am I correct in understanding that the patient is a US resident but not a resident of Minnesota?

@louissc Hi Louis, thank you for your response! I agree "abnormal vessel" is vague. I hope that it's just because I'm getting the information 3rd hand and the report is actually more detailed. We're still pending the appointment with the neurologist to review the MRI, so I'm hopeful that more information will be available then to help guide the next steps.

I appreciate your perspective - I know we are deeply fortunate to have the Mayo in our backyard, so to speak, and even for my son it's a short 7 hour train ride from Chicago. So if there is any complication at all (and I think there is. See: Abnormal Vessel), I think signing up for care at Mayo is the obvious choice.

@colleenyoung

Hi Colleen, thank you for your reply! The patient is a US resident, and a part-time resident of Minnesota; he has been travelling back here (from Illinois) for all appointments with his provider thus far, with the majority of time this year spent in Minnesota. I think I understand the chain of licensure that you are describing, where the eConsult is available, so long as the petitioning physician is licensed to provide care to the patient in the patient's state.

@rayrayray

Hi,

I certainly hope things will get more specific after reviewing the MRI and you will be able to make a better choice after, Mayo is muc better with many things medical, and if I ever am to seek long time care I am not sure I am able to stand flying so many hours every 3 months with a connection at a major aviation hub. I will be glad if the neurologist can better explain "abnormal vessel".

Cheers,
Louis

@colleenyoung
Just to clarify, my son is not a patient in the Mayo network. Is eConsult available for physicians outside of Mayo? I don't quite understand how it works.

@rayrayray, I understood that your son would like to request a virtual appointment with Mayo Clinic experts. To find out if this is possible for your son, please submit a request for an appointment using this form: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

At your chosen time, an appointment coordinator can answer your questions and can let you know if a virtual visit fits your individual needs and provider licensing.