Help for my wife?

Good morning! I am so sorry to hear of your wife's troubles and the situation you find yourselves in. May I ask - did your doctor provide a referral to Mayo? Did Mayo explain why your case was rejected?
Sending thoughts and prayers your way,
C

Hello @dizzyjw and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Your wife's situation sounds extremely painful and concerning. When you say her pain is under her rib cage, is it in the center or on the right/left side?

@dizzyjw I’m sorry to hear that your wife did not get an appointment at Mayo Clinic. Sometimes departments at Mayo Clinic have more requests for appointments than available openings. There are a few options you may consider, such as:
- have her physician make a referral, possibly to a different department.
- make a self-referral or physician referral to a different Mayo Clinic location.

May I ask, did you request the appointment yourselves or did your wife's doctor make the referral. Which campus did you choose AZ, FL or MN? Which department?

Her doctor did not provide a referral, my wife called herself. Mayo didn’t really explain. Just a short email pretty much saying they have too many requests and to continue seeking treatment with her local doctor. Thank you so much for the thoughts and prayers

My wife made the request herself at the MN clinic. Thank you for the advice. We will look into some other clinics and a referral from a doctor.

It’s kind of right center. She does have a history of endometriosis so we think it could be possible internal scarring but we aren’t sure. Tests didn’t pickup anything specific. She does have a slight hietal hernia as well but the doctor doesn’t think it should be causing that much pain.

@dizzyjw I would definitely try having your wife's current doctor put in a referral. That is how I was able to be seen at Mayo (MN campus) when I was in a state much like what you are describing. That was a year before the pandemic started, but even then the volume of cases that are presented to Mayo's incredible institution were far more than they were able to handle, and had I not had the referral, I had been told by several (inside Mayo and other people with past personal experiences) that I likely would have been rejected.

Since then, and since the pandemic, the only people I know personally who were rejected by Mayo did not have a referral from a current practitioner, either. And as @colleenyoung suggests above, if your doctor does put in a referral that is initially rejected for whatever reason, please ask him/her to try to refer to a different department. My doctor at home at the time had referred me to a department that I knew wasn't where I needed to go, but the Mayo scheduler assured me that once I was "in," that doctor would likely schedule a series of workups/appointments for me that would ultimately get me where I needed to go - which indeed occurred, and I was seen in several different departments during my time there, ultimately finding help in a department far removed from where my "home" doctor thought I should be.

Continued prayers for you both! I realize how frustrating and exhausting the process is. But there is hope... and I'm glad you thought to pop in here to ask for advice - I hope some of what folks share with you get your wife relief!

God bless,
C

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. This information is very helpful. I told my wife this morning so we are going to see if her doctor will send the referral. It lifted her spirits this morning so thank you again

Josh

@dizzyjw how great! Will you come back in and update us as you keep working toward an appointment?

@dizzyjw Josh - great!!! Glad to hear it! Please do keep us updated if you would like to and are able!