First visit to Mayo: Traveling alone

@aar9 Hello and welcome to Connect! I can tell you that Colorado and Mayo Clinic in Rochester are 2 of my favorite places!

The first thing you may want to do is sign into your patient portal. Your scheduled appointments will be listed on a guide for you so you know where to be and you can print it out. That may also be a determining factor as to the hotel that you decide on to find one convenient to where you need to be. I would direct questions about how many days you will need to get all your appointments and testing done to your cardiologist. Typically they say it is completed within a week, and my own experience was 3 days the first time I came to Mayo and all my tests were done. Sometimes you can get in early by waiting as "standby". The hotels closer to Mayo Clinic are more expensive, but many have free shuttle services to all Mayo Clinic Campuses including St. Mary's Hospital and special Mayo patient rates, and Mayo also has their own shuttles between the downtown campus where the Gonda and Mayo buildings are and the Mayo hospitals. Many hotels have rooms with fully equipped kitchens, so you can prepare your own meals.

If you need someone to escort you to appointments, Mayo can arrange that for you. There are free Concierge services and will assist you in finding information for hotels, escorts, etc. Mayo may have mailed a campus map to you, but you can also find the link to that in this Blog about St. Mary's Hospital.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/newsfeed-post/a-patient-guided-tour-of-st-marys-at-mayo-clinic-rochester/
Five Ways to Contact Mayo Concierge Services

Phone: 507-538-8438
Live Chat: https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide
Email: concierge@mayo.edu
Web form: https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/minnesota/becoming-a-patient/concierge-travel-services
In-person in Rochester MN: Lobby hours are 8:00-5:00 Monday through Friday. Offices are located in the International Center in the Mayo Mathew’s Lobby, Executive Lounge on Mayo 5, Radiation Oncology Lobby – Desk R

Congratulations on becoming a Mayo patient. Do you have other questions about how to get places? Are you expecting to possibly have a procedure done while you are there?

Yes, I was recently diagnosed with a large tumor in my colon, and the biopsy showed Adenocarcinoma, moderately differentiated. I am presently living in the Philippine Islands, and there is an Oncologist nearby. So I will get a CT scan here, and see what his opinions are. Then I will decide what to do, and affordability.

@aar9 Hello and welcome to Connect! I can tell you that Colorado and Mayo Clinic in Rochester are 2 of my favorite places!

The first thing you may want to do is sign into your patient portal. Your scheduled appointments will be listed on a guide for you so you know where to be and you can print it out. That may also be a determining factor as to the hotel that you decide on to find one convenient to where you need to be. I would direct questions about how many days you will need to get all your appointments and testing done to your cardiologist. Typically they say it is completed within a week, and my own experience was 3 days the first time I came to Mayo and all my tests were done. Sometimes you can get in early by waiting as "standby". The hotels closer to Mayo Clinic are more expensive, but many have free shuttle services to all Mayo Clinic Campuses including St. Mary's Hospital and special Mayo patient rates, and Mayo also has their own shuttles between the downtown campus where the Gonda and Mayo buildings are and the Mayo hospitals. Many hotels have rooms with fully equipped kitchens, so you can prepare your own meals.

If you need someone to escort you to appointments, Mayo can arrange that for you. There are free Concierge services and will assist you in finding information for hotels, escorts, etc. Mayo may have mailed a campus map to you, but you can also find the link to that in this Blog about St. Mary's Hospital.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/newsfeed-post/a-patient-guided-tour-of-st-marys-at-mayo-clinic-rochester/
Five Ways to Contact Mayo Concierge Services

Phone: 507-538-8438
Live Chat: https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide
Email: concierge@mayo.edu
Web form: https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/minnesota/becoming-a-patient/concierge-travel-services
In-person in Rochester MN: Lobby hours are 8:00-5:00 Monday through Friday. Offices are located in the International Center in the Mayo Mathew’s Lobby, Executive Lounge on Mayo 5, Radiation Oncology Lobby – Desk R

Congratulations on becoming a Mayo patient. Do you have other questions about how to get places? Are you expecting to possibly have a procedure done while you are there?

Was informed I will need testing bloodwork chest x-ray, I already had a recent nuclear medicine stress test and heart catherization so I don’t know if they will have me doing again all depends. I was informed I possibly will need surgery but not know of which ones. I will keep you updated. How are you doing ?

Thanks, @makatak47 for your update. One thing to consider is how long is the wait for treatment or surgery, and then where do you go for post surgical follow up and further treatment? My husband had a melanoma cancer on his hand that the dermatologist found. I myself, am a Mayo surgical patient, so I called to inquire about treatment at Mayo and it would have been a month wait to get in and start with a dermatologist there before being referred to a cancer surgeon. We already had a cancer diagnosis, so it made more sense to take the offer of surgery that we had in the next 2 weeks at a good medical center about an hour away from our home. We decided to have his surgery close to home instead which turned out to be fine because we also go for appointments and follow up scans fairly frequently and he sees his oncologist twice a year. It is a 5 hour drive to Mayo for us. Of course when you travel, you do add transportation and lodging costs as well as food. Mayo Clinic specialists can also consult virtually with medical professionals in other places, so it may be possible to get treatment at home with advice communicated to your doctor from a Mayo specialist.

You might find some information from other members about colon cancer in the discussions in this group. Perhaps that will help with some of the decisions that you need to make about your health and give you some support from others with similar experiences.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/colorectal-cancer/

Hi I am coming alone first time to Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. I have heard wonderful things about this is the right place to be and my cardiologist in Colorado recommends it. I was diagnosed with SCAD and want to have a better quality of life without no more chest pains . I was wondering how long it will be for my length of stay and what to expect of outcome and etc… since I am flying out from Colorado. Thanks for your time …. Take care all….

@aar9, Mayo Clinic has some of the best specialists and leading researchers who excel in SCAD in the entire world. You will be in good hands.

Have you signed up for the patient portal “Patient Online Services”?

Learn more here: https://onlineservices.mayoclinic.org/content/staticpatient/showpage/patientonline

Thus far, I haven't been to the hospital at all. I've had all doctor consultations/appointments, imaging tests, and lab tests at the main Mayo campus. (There are two 18-story buildings hooked together seamlessly where most of the appointments are held.)

I don't mind... I'm having a surgery called a Nissen fundoplication. The sphincter muscle between my stomach and esophagus no longer functions, plus I have a 4cm hiatal hernia (i.e., 4 centimeters of my stomach is coming up into my esophagus). As a result, I have a huge GERD issue and always have heartburn -- so much so that it's like having a third degree sunburn in my esophagus. Usually, they would prescribe a proton pump inhibitor medication like Nexium to treat the GERD issue, but since Mayo figured out that I have a bunch of cytochrome P450 drug metabolization polymorphisms and I metabolize medications too slowly, I cannot take them ever again because these meds were building-up in my system and making me incredibly sick. Surgery is my only option. If not fixed, someday the stomach acid could cause esophageal cancer and other problems.

In October, on my first day there, I will be going to the main Mayo building again for a GI test to see if my esophagus works properly, one lab test, and to have my pre-operative appointment with my thoracic surgeon. Then the next day, I have surgery down the road at Mayo's St. Mary's hospital. I think it's about 10 blocks away.

“cytochrome P450 drug metabolization polymorphisms” …. What speciality would test for this?