what to wear? can I bring a stuffed animal if I'm 40?

Hi Birdiebell, Welcome to Connect and I myself was welcomed to Mayo from
The back of an Ambulance when I was having Heart problems. I ended up receiving a Heart Transplant 4 years ago. So yes you can have a stuffed animal. I actually for my heart transplant they gave me a stuffed animal in the shape of a heart and I still have it today.
I can't say enough great things about the Love and Care I received during my multiple Hospital stays(I had unrelated issues after my transplant) if
They say dress comfortable it's exactly what they mean. You will find patients even down in the cafeteria with IV pole and all in their hospital gowns. So for your initial visits I would suggest say sweat pants and a regular top like you may wear to the Gym. Typically that's what I wear for my follow-up visits.
I am from Arizona and I went to the Phoenix AZ location. So if that's your location I can also help with hotels or getting around if you would like.
So please ask anything you like and I'm sure if your going to another location there are others on here that can share their experiences at either Minnesota or Florida.
We are one big happy family here on Connect and you'll find that's a reflection of the Mayo Clinic way. The brothers who founded this clinic way back in the early 1900s were focused on patient care and I believe that mindset is still paramount in the culture. I too have had good and bad experiences in different Hospital chains and I haven't had a single bad experience at MAYO.
Blessings

Hi @birdiebell I want to add my welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect along with my fellow mentor @danab. I’m also a patient of Mayo Clinic. My journey has been in Rochster where I was a patient for a 4 month stay with my bone marrow transplant. I reported to the clinic for treatment and followup every day during those months, and still return on a routine basis after 3 years.

You do not need to worry one little bit about how you dress as long as you have clothing on. 😉 I can honestly tell you there were days I showed up in my ‘jammies’ …yoga pants, tshirt and sock hat in summer, when I was too tired to get dressed. Other days I was there in jeans. Nobody paid attention to what I was wearing. I was always treated with dignity and respect no matter what I wore.

I think you’ll find the same experience. Mayo Clinic is a place of hope. The doctors, nurses and all of the staff are there to give you the very best of care. I don’t see any problem with bringing your stuffed tiger. I had a plush doggy in my room that my daughter brought for me! I don’t know if Covid has any bearing on bringing in a stuffed animal but what you could do is bring a little tote bag for it, just in case. However, I’ve seen kids in strollers and adults walking down hallways holding dolls, stuffed dogs, stuffed hearts. No one will judge you! It is a very safe and empathetic environment.

I’m really sorry you’ve been treated so poorly by other health systems but very confident that won’t be the case at Mayo. As for clothing, so that you feel your most comforable, I might suggest business casual. Just a nice top and slacks or jeans. Crocks are fine! Many of my doctors and nurses wore them along with visitors to the clinic. So relax, just dress in something that gives you a sense of self confidence and you’ll be just fine!

Do you have your lodging lined up and your patient portal? Is there anything else I can help you with?

I agree with others, you will see all sort of dress at Mayo. I have only been to Rochester campus, but I assume it is same at other locations.
Do one will care if you wear Crocs, I wear mine often to appts because they are easy on and off when they weigh you or have to get undressed. I have seen people in slippers.
If concern about carrying stuff animal, carry large tote and put stuff animal inside.
My normal outfit for Mayo is jeans or leggings and comfortable top. Something easy to take off and on for tests / exams. Wear a shirt that makes it easy to take your blood pressure and draw blood such as short sleeve. You can always put a sweater, etc.. over the top if you tend to get cold. Lobby and exam rooms vary greatly in temperature.

Have a safe trip
Laurie

Good morning. The Clinic is like an automobile dealership. We service all makes, models, and years. I volunteer in the subway system. Best people watching ever. I see brand new babies to people getting up in years. People are dressed in tuxes to pajamas to next to nothing. Flats to the very high stilettos. The volunteers in the Eisenberg building make small stuffed animals for us to give to people. more adults take the animals then the children do. I see many patients on chemo pushing iv poles loaded with sometimes 4 bags wearing only a gown. Children in wagons to wheelchairs. Adults on scooters or walking the best they can. Some hair styles are out of this world, but that does not change how the staff looks at you. I know from being a patient for many years, the staff does NOT care what you wear. Comfortable clothing works great for the many tests you may get. Easy on and off shoes work for height and weight measuring. Mayo Clinic is the best place to be when you need help. I think it is ok to bring a stuffed animal and to wear comfortable clothing. Most of the people in the Clinic are doing the same. Have a wonderful visit at the best hospital system in the world.

Hi all, thank you So Much for the kind, compassionate, and helpful responses. It really gives me a boost and has helped calm a lot of fear about Mayo.

I have been increasingly fragile as I go through this dire illness that took me, in a matter of days, from mountain biking to sudden hypoxia, seizures, and being paralyzed daily. At 38 years old, I have fallen four times this weekend, with the help of two trekking poles with floor grippers. In a nutshell, I'm super sick. Incontinent. Zero quality of life. Often wanting to have it just be over, it's that bad and has been that long like this.

Mayo rejected (with quite a bit of attitude) my first application two years ago (I tried to explain to each person I talked to what "long covid" was and no one had heard of it so they thought I was a nut and treated me so. Now I have an appointment with a doctor this week and am scheduled to go to Scottsdale in October. Many with my condition are routinely ignored or pushed away by medical practitioners of all levels, and people like me cannot get medical care because doctors are either dismissive or don't want to do the work to actually read and think about why I could be dying. So, I have a lot of anxiety about this appointment Wednesday, because it's one last opportunity for the doctor to say "how the heck did you get this appointment" and dump me. Cold. It's happened so many times.

So, I go overboard thinking about clothing, which is the first way we are all judged--and I've learned that all doctors do is judge. It's their job, in a way, but can be misapplied so easily. If I feel comfortable with the physician after next week's telehealth appointment, I will certainly calm down and feel like I'll have a good, real, valid visit and be treated like every other patient and not just phoned in and tossed out. Right now, I'm so petrified of the telehealth visit and the whole process that I cry every day. A lot. Which is not typical for me.

As for outfit, I'll go with advice--crocs, loose clothing that is casual but doesn't make me feel like a schlumpadinka. I will have twin stuffed animals--a clean one for the hotel, and a "covid warrior" for the Mayo campus. I will have a big tote to cram the tiger in if things get fishy.
(Do I need my own socks, or do they give you grippy ones?)

This is where our appointments will be
Division of General Internal Medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale Campus, SCT-1 Clinic Building
13400 E SHEA BLVD
SCOTTSDALE AZ 85259-5452

I would really appreciate any "getting around" tips and food recommendations. Please keep in mind that "I DO NOT HAVE AN IMMUNE SYSTEM" (I have to say this real loud and clear because people never seem to remember that I'm on the edge of death at all times). Dining has to be drive-thru or someone comes out and puts it in the trunk. One stray germ, no more me. Covid? Bye Bye Birdie. We can't even stop on the way to use the bathroom. I have to use one of those special she-wees in a jug in the back seat. This is serious, y'all.

So any tips on dining out--waaaaay out of the restaurant, that is--would be so appreciated. I love burritos and pizza and any good food, really. I'm coming from New Mexico if that helps, though am not tied to SW cuisine only. Mostly we need good, fast, cheap. With as little contact as heartbreakingly possible.

For hotel, we chose the Adero Scottsdale. It's pricey but not too far away, and seemed like a more relaxing place to come back to and bubble in the room until the next appointment. I'm actually miffed because my health fragility and lack of immune system means we're paying for the extras but I can't be around people so can't enjoy it much. But we heard several recent reports that the hotels on Mayo's campuses were really, really not clean. I have to disinfect everything anyway, I'd like to do that just once or twice and not have nightmares. Also, this place has windows that open so the Lysol will air out.

Well, I suppose that's it. I assumed this would be easy, but going to Mayo after more than 20 failed doctors is showing me how little heart I have left. Yet, at less than one percent, there is always more heart, somehow?

Thanks to you all for being so kind. I feel like I'm talking to friends, but maybe you are just the first friendly people I've encountered in months. My health demands total isolation, not even going to the dentist, and it's just me and my spouse. G-d help us.

Really, though. Thanks for understanding. Crocs are armor, too.

@birdiebell Ah, my heart really goes out to you. I live with a severely compromised immune system, also, and totally relate. I know there are several others here, nodding their heads in agreement to things you have stated how you need to live your life right now.

@danab is a good source for asking questions about the Mayo Scottsdale campus.
And the concierge service offered by Mayo Clinic Rochester should also be able to assist you., even if you will be at the Arizona location https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/minnesota/concierge-services

Your kind words about feeling like you are talking to friends, is what Mayo Clinic Connect does, and that is how Mayo Clinic is, also!
Ginger

Hi Birdie, Me again and wow what a situation your in. The place your going is a satellite campus away from the main Hospital. I've had some appointments there but most of mine have been up at the Main Campus. But the Scottsdale campus has a nice feature I really like. Underground parking and being we are in the hot southwest it's so nice to come to a nice cool car after your appointments. The campus is mostly above ground and with elevators you can park your car and never go outside. I found everything very clean and if you have some time between visits there is a great area with a lot of History of the Mayo Brothers and the original campuses.

As for hotels I had great luck up closer to the main Hospital and always very clean. I haven't stayed in the one you mentioned and as far as I know that campus has no on-site hotels since they don't have patient beds. There is a shuttle that runs between the 2 campuses but also its a short drive of about 15 to 20 minutes. Now if you end up closer to the Hospital area they do have a hotel on site but I've never stayed there. They are more expensive and i found 2 i like only
2 miles away.
As for Restaurants I mostly ate at the cafeteria at the main campus but the one your going to has a small one also.
Now for outside restaurants I'm still a bit like you and do drive up or bring to the car when I eat out. Most of the places I like to eat have adapted to covid and if they don't have a drive up window most places have bring it to the car. Kind of like the old carhop days.
So Scottsdale in general is an area that's a bit more upscale and I'm sure there will be plenty of restaurants to chose from. I'm a big seafood and my occasional steak I enjoy a few times a month so those are the places I like. My wife doesn't eat beef so that's how we compromise and eat mostly chicken or turkey dishes.
Near the main campus mostly like I said we use the cafeteria and for dinner just grab it before heading to the hotel and have dinner their. Let me know how else I might be able to help. I look forward to hearing about your visit.

GM, your story resonated with me. Those of us with odd autoimmune diseases often have similar stories of rejection, it’s all
In your head, nothing Physically wrong with you… yes my life changed quickly too after a virus which triggered some autoimmune diseases. So after exhausting local resources my local doc sent me to Mayo Scottsdale. I stayed at the hotel next to the campus and had no complaints. Ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria and grabbed something for dinner which I ate in my room. The whole Mayo experience was vastly different than what I had experienced up to this point. All of the docs I encountered were kind and were open minded and listened. When looking at my symptoms I think they recognized them and knew “ it wasn’t all in my head”. So I was diagnosed and finally got some treatment for my autoimmune diseases. Going to Mayo was the best money I ever spent. I hope you have a similar experience:)

Praying that you get answers! Good luck Wednesday.

This thread has had a huge impact on my mental health--thank you guys. 16 million Care Bears arrived today, and I was able to feel good about it. Because I'm feeling less terrified of Mayo. Because of you all.

My telehealth apt is tomorrow, I'll update with how it went.

Thanks for being people in my world right now. It's big to me.