@badbonz What you need to do is contact Mayo and they will set up a temporary patient number for you that you will use to send in your imaging studies and a letter about your symptoms since they have to track and organize it in their system. You can request (like I did) that imaging studies be sent to Dr. Fogelson. They will also ask you questions about your diagnosis and symptoms when they set up the number. The most efficient way to do that is call his appointments phone number that I'll send to you in a private message and you'll talk to a nurse. (and please tell them how highly I recommended him). It doesn't cost anything to have them review your imaging and it can be returned to you. Then you'll be contacted by phone if they offer an appointment. I think that because all the other surgeons had misunderstood my case and how advanced the stenosis was, it helped me get treatment at Mayo. They do prioritize based on need and urgency. I was called a month after sending my imaging because of a cancellation, but they told me the wait was usually 3 months to get in at that time. You can find the insurance information on the website. Once you get accepted, they give you a permanent patient number and schedule appointments to evaluate all the issues you have that could relate to the problem. For me that was a neurologist evaluation (and he ordered tests- nerve conduction, blood work, MRI). I also had an evaluation for thoracic outlet syndrome and physical testing for that. All of that happened the day before and the morning of the evaluation with Dr. Fogelson, and the doctor who evaluated the TOS called Dr. Folgelson with his results while I was in the room at my appointment. That is how efficient they are and thorough. So when I met Dr. Fogelson and he reviewed my imaging with me that I had sent in, he offered surgery and we talked about my choices. I did have to wait for the results of one blood test that took a couple weeks, and results were good, so I asked to be scheduled for surgery. A few weeks later when they were setting up his surgery schedule, they scheduled me, and it was about 5 weeks after that first appointment. if you do see him, I hope you'll share your experience. My patient story is listed with his profile on the website. Thanks for asking.

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