For my blog entries back to 2007, click on "View my complete profile," scroll down, and click on "How did I do that?" (It's about my first bout of breast cancer.)

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Impressions of Mayo and Rochester

We arrived Rochester Tuesday night for our first peek at downtown and the Mayo Campus. On Wednesday we were there before the automatic doors opened at 6:30 a.m. We had several stops around Campus for tests and info throughout the day, wrapping up when the clinic closed at 5 p.m. Greg was the last person in the Oncology waiting room when I finished up the last test of the day and could finally EAT.

There's a bumper sticker on my VW that says "CRONE - Creative Researcher of New Experiences." Because I groove on new experiences, I found the Mayo trip totally fascinating and enjoyable (even while fasting if you can imagine such a thing; you know how I get when I'm hungry).

Sure, there were long waits between stops, but we encountered not ONE employee with less than a super-duper great attitude, friendliness, and willingness to help the baffled make it through the day. Even the doctors we saw in Oncology, Dr. Robinson (Fellow) and Dr. Bible (the real expert), explained things openly and simply and managed to make us feel as though they weren't actually running two hours behind.

The city of Rochester would more aptly be named "Mayo-ville." One of the nurses told me when she was growing up here 30 years ago, the sign read "Rochester - Population 56,000." The population is now over 100,000 and it would seem the residents all work for the clinic or the nearby hospital. The attitudes I saw, as well as comments made, indicated they are grateful for good jobs in a relatively small community.

Everything near the Mayo Campus is geared toward the convenience of people visiting the clinic (lots of hotels with truly reasonable "Mayo Patient" rates) and the needs of patients and families looking to relax between appointments (aesthetically pleasing restaurants with good food, shops, beautiful courtyards, and comfortable indoor/outdoor WiFi places to rest and communicate).



So that's been fun to see.

Today we have a followup consult with Dr. Robinson at 1:15 to go over results of yesterday's tests. Then we will head for home, armed with a fresh approach, more information, and be able to make decisions about further treatment and followup -- and that is tomorrow's blog.

6 comments:

  1. Sarah AJJune 2, 2011 at 12:48 PM

    Wow, that is a long day! I'm glad to hear it was enjoyable -- who knew such a trip could be?!

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  2. AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 5:43 PM

    My sister-in-law used to work at Mayo and LOVED IT. Sounds like it is a great place both to work and to be a patient. I'm glad that they were super nice to you--you deserve it :) Also, I love the pictures! Such a pretty building.
    Hugs,
    Vanessa

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  3. AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 5:53 PM

    CRONE at Mayo! that's a positive way to look at this.
    You two managed some big smiles in spite of long waits and growing hunger. Bet you're glad to be done and back home tonight. Thanks for blogging! Deb

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  4. Mary Jo SJune 3, 2011 at 8:34 AM

    Been eagerly awaiting to hear about your visit to Mayo - they are a great group of professional and caring people. Love the pictures! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. JanJune 4, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    Glad to see you and Greg are making this a new adventure! Take care
    Enjoy!

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  6. Paul WalkerJune 6, 2011 at 10:10 PM

    Thank you for updating your blog. It is well written and inspiring to see how well you are coping with this all over again. It is kind of like De Ja vue all over again, but this time a bit different. That should make you chuckle. Blessing to you and Greg.

    ReplyDelete

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