Thyroid and testing at Mayo

Hello, @moem
Availability of appointments can vary. If you’re already a patient in the system under care, then appointments can happen rather quickly after the doctor orders the tests. Sometimes within the same day if there’s an opening or within a couple of weeks. There is no testing done on weekends.

Are you currently a patient with a Mayo Clinic in the ENT department or will this be an initial consultation for you?

Hello, it is an initial consult. They already ordered some blood tests the morning before the appt. and they have my Medicare
number so they can review my records electronically. Mayo doesn't perform any imaging or blood tests on the weekends? Do they book evening appts?
Thanks,
Moem

Hi. Which Mayo Campus will you be visiting? We have members who’ve visited each clinic and can help you with information about the clinic, lodging, getting around the city, dining, etc.

It’s pretty customary for blood tests to be drawn first thing in the morning. Make sure you arrive 30 minutes early for your labs as it’s super busy there. The labs are run immediately and results will be available to your doctor by the time you’re up at your appointment!

By now you have a Mayo Patient number. If you haven’t done so already, go online to set up your patient portal in online services. The portal is main communication with Mayo.
https://onlineservices.mayoclinic.org/content/staticpatient/showpage/patientonline
From this portal you’ll see all your appointments, your health records, letters and notes from your team, medications, etc. Once you see the doctor for your consultation, things can happen rapidly. I don’t know your situation so I’m not sure if you’ll have more tests that day or not.
It’s difficult for the staff at Mayo to schedule more appointments before you see your specialist as they don’t know what tests you might need. That will be determined after your bloodwork and consultation. You can also use this portal to contact the doctor’s staff where you’ll be seen. You can send a note or call to ask about what the timeframe for staying near the clinic might be.

If you’re from out of town and uncertain how long you’ll need at the clinic, you might consider staying another 2 or 3 days. Hotels are pretty good at working with patients with cancellations.

As far as I know Mayo doesn’t have appointments on weekends or evenings.
Did you set up your portal yet?

Yes. I can see they have pre-ordered tests for me. I just don't see my extensive Medicare records under my patient #.

Hi @moem, sorry I didn’t see this latest message from you. An easy fix in the future is to just hit the Reply button in the conversation. It will notify the intended person. 😉

Ok good! You have the portal set up. That’s your gateway to everything you need to know about your appointments, locations, your doctors, prescriptions, etc.

I’m not sure your Medicare documents will show up on your portal. That’s for all of your records from Mayo. I just did a quick scan on my portal and the only previous records I have from my treatment outside of Mayo was a quick synopsis from my referring doctor and lab reports from my local clinic sent once a month.
Medical documents from outside sources can often be accessed through a master data base system such as Epix.
It doesn’t mean your doctor at Mayo hasn’t seen them. They’re just not going to be found on the portal.

When is your appointment and which Clinic will you be attending?

Yes, my doctor's use EPIX. The hematology group has seen some records as they called me yesterday.. The instructions say I can't eat for 4 hours prior to the appt. Does that mean that they are planning to do a scan or are those standard protocols written for all patients?
Thanks,
MM

Mayo Rochester ENT and hematology.

Epix is a great system. That’s what Mayo uses and will directly let them access your records. So you won’t see any of those documents in your Mayo Portal.

As far as no eating prior to the appointment it depends on the procedure or tests you’re having done. Some blood tests require fasting. Other procedures can require no eating so that your stomach is empty, that type of thing.

Which test requires you to not eat?

It states 4 hours fasting. No solid food. And restrictions on drinks...no juices with pulp, no milk, clear beverages. This suggests a CT or MRI. My question was wether or not those directions are specifically for me or just a precaution for all new visiting patients.

Those are instructions specifically for you. Which tests did you have done, Moem? How are you doing?