Getting messages on the Mayo Clinic patient portal
Do you ever get a phone call from the doctor or the person working with the doctor or does it always come in the report section of the portal?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Visiting Mayo Clinic Support Group.
Hi @bnlc
Thatâs odd. Usually when you click on Send a Message in portal, it will take you to a menu about âWhat would you like to doâ and gives you an option of Ask a Medical Question. If you click that option it takes you to: What type of medical question, such as non-urgent, followup, test result, care plan, etc.
When you click on one of those options it will take you to your team. That might be the key however, have you actually been seen by a doctor or NP at Mayo? If you havenât, there is no one to write to yet.
Are you a new patient to Mayo?
Hi Lori...yes we are a new patient and are not going to be seen by all the doctors (oncology, radiation and surgery) for another week. We need to get some help as my husband has not been able to sleep or get comfortable. Our primary care giver outside of Mayo has retired and it will take a month to get in đ Just looking to find out where he can go get some relief till next week
Oh dear, Iâm so sorry to hear about your dilemma. Thatâs awful your husbandâs in distress without any doctor on board right now. Unfortunately, if your husband hasnât been seen at Mayo yet, Iâm not sure the doctors there can give medications without ever having met with your husband. Thatâs standard practice everywhere.
Is there no replacement for your husbandâs previous doctor? Was this his oncologist?? Isnât there any continuity of care if this is in his same clinic where heâll be seeing a new doctor?
They should be able to extend any medications that he was taking prior to the retirement of his other doctor.
Another thought, doctors usually have built in emergency hours. Have you tried calling the new doctorâs nurse and telling them of the urgency? Or, thereâs always the ER as an option. Heâll at least be seen and possibly get enough medication to get through the week until youâre at Mayo. Has he been on previous meds for his pain?
It sounds like heâs in for quite a journey and I know this is a very stressful time for you and your husband. From experience, I know youâll both be in the best of care at Mayo. It is truly a place of hope. I wouldnât be here today without my amazing team in Rochester. So I wish your husband well with everything. If you donât mind sharing, what is your husbandâs cancer?
Are you all set with your lodging and do you need any help navigating with your stay at Mayo? Which campus will you be visiting?
Thank you Lori, My husband was diagnosed with Rectal Cancer and we will be going to the Phoenix Campus. They have been great and super responsive in scheduling everything. The gastro dr doesn't want to help, his primary dr is months out and understand now from you that Mayo can't either.
Question when you say - Have you tried calling the new doctorâs nurse and telling them of the urgency? - did you mean the Dr at Mayo? We did ask, but she has not yet responded, that was why I wanted to ask the question in the portal.
Thank you for your quick responses and help! This will be so helpful as we go on our journey!
I was hoping whomever diagnosed your husband would be able to give him some pain meds. Wasnât he getting any local care? Or did he go right from diagnosis to referral to Mayo with no meds for the pain? Or, was he not taking any meds for discomfort but now needs them?
Iâm not sure about a primary care physician helping in this case. Usually when a case is switched to oncology, the primary care provider is secondary. I canât understand the gastro dr not wanting to help. Itâs a pain med, itâs not hard to type in an order to a pharmacy for a weekâs worth of meds. OyâŠ
I know palliative care is always available to cancer patients. But that takes time to set up as well so at this late date his pain management would be by his team at Mayo. Heâll get everything he can possibly need there. But itâs a long week in the mean time!
I donât know what meds your husband is currently taking if this would interfere, but I had a situation for a few days where I was unable to take pain meds due to kidney and liver damage. I was able, however to take some CBD gummies. That took the edge off the painâŠfrom a level 15 down to about an 8âŠon that grimace scale in doctorsâ offices (of 1-10) Just a thoughtâŠ
If you placed a call to your husbandâs new doctor at Mayo, you may still hear back from his nurse practitioner or coordinator. They often return calls near the end of the day. But generally if patients havenât been seen yet itâs really hard these days to get drugs for pain. Itâs not just Mayo, itâs every medical practice in the US.
However if he has a doctor at the Phoenix Campus, by name, and he has scheduled appointmentsâŠmaybe, just maybe??
It wouldnât hurt to call again to speak with a nurse coordinator with the doctor heâll be seeing.
Keep me posted. Maybe someone else will pop in with some ideas. I hope your husband finds some relief!