second opinion

Hi @cathyras, I’ve had chemo brain and can so relate to looking right at something and not seeing it! Frustrating but it gets better with time. ☺️.
Here’s the information you’re looking for to get a second opinion at Mayo Clinic.

Click this link and it will take to the Mayo Clinic home page:
http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
From there, you can select the Mayo campus that would be most convenient for you and begin the application process for an appointment. The easiest way would be to call the phone number listed and speak with a coordinater. They’ll help get you started. I hope you’re able to get in soon.

How are you progressing with your chemo treatments?

thank you. Yesterday was one of those days!! I'm also looking at clinical trials. Checking a local hospital here in Portland.

Is it possible to get a Mayo consult without having to go to the Mayo clinic? I have very current test results from my excellent oncologist, Dr. Messersmith at University of Colorado in Denver. However, I feel the desire to explore options that may be available at other institutions, besides Gemzar or GemAbraxane. At this point, I do not need chem. It has not been missed, has to sized and there are no visible tumors yet though my blood work incluflding my ctDNA indicate likely recurrence.. so very likely recurrence, but if it spreads I will need to make some important treatment decisions and would like to know my options in advance. Please provide guidance or names of doctors and institutions or a link. And please let me know whether there are any centers of excellence where that I can get a virtual consult. Thank you.

If absolutely necessary, I can travel, but I'm hoping to do one or two virtual consoles first.

Previous confusing sentence should read it has not metastasized and there are no visible tumors on the skin yet.

Scan.

Hi @bethf, I know in the past Mayo provided virtual consults but I can’t personally answer to whether that service continued or not.
The easiest way to find out would be to phone Mayo-Rochester, 1-507-538-3270 and speak to the coordinator who answers the call. You can ask about virtual consults and if that’s not available, you could start appointment request at that time.

The Center’s of Excellence that work with Mayo is another option, but again, I’m not sure of whether or not they provide virtual visits. Here’s a link to the network map.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/care-network/network-members. Unfortunately, I don’t see any listed in Colorado.

I hope you’re able to make this happen without having to travel. But as a Mayo patient myself, it is well worth the travel time and expense to make the trip. Rochester and the Clinic are very easy to navigate and the care is exceptional.
Let me know what you find out, ok?

Thank you so much. I think I should call and find out about virtual visits since I am not very close to Rochester. I'm sure I'll get helpful information.

I am also looking at Dana Farber in Boston. And possibly a local hospital OHSU.

I too am looking into Mayo. I am also looking at Dana Farber in Boston. I had a tumor removed from the tail of my pancreas. After that I had chemo. PET scan showed no cancer. But about 6 months later I had a recurrence. So I had more chemo. The lesion was in the area where I had surgery. Again a clean scan and another recurrence in the same spot. That's why I am looking. I have Kaiser so I'm not sure as far as paying for it. My oncologist was in agreement for me looking into a second opinion. I hope I didn't already answer this LOL. My brain is seriously jumbled and my short term memory is very bad. I have had NO metastatic tumor . Well possibly in my lungs but I don't want to get into that.

Once you have had an in person visit, it may be easier to connect for the follow ups. The rules concerning allowing video visits have not been changed.