Has Anybody Had A Mayo Follow-Up Visit?

[houswoea]

I don't know how long to plan to be in Rochester. I live in MN, so it's not a big deal if I don't get it right, but it would be nice to have an estimate.

When I was first there it was about a week. But for a follow up visit and some follow up tests, it shouldn't take that long, right? Has anybody done this?

thanks

liz

[Guest tearose]

You should allow a similar amount of time.

I've been there three times and am confident that my current treatment plan is the best.

Basically, go to get all your questions answered and to get a treatment plan that gives you the best quality of life.

After my second follow up visit I left with the confidence that I had my best treatment plan.

[friday7]

You should allow a similar amount of time.

I've been there three times and am confident that my current treatment plan is the best.

Basically, go to get all your questions answered and to get a treatment plan that gives you the best quality of life.

After my second follow up visit I left with the confidence that I had my best treatment plan.

Sorry to steer this thread in a little direction but ,I always wondered it works to go to a place like Mayo. You get a treatment plan and take that to your own doctor? How do you know they will follow the plan? Also if you're out of your state does you insurance pay for Mayo?

[Guest tearose]

Well in my case, I took my dx and treatment plan back home to whatever PCP I had at the time and worked it till it worked!

It did require my phone calling out to them a few times but I did get return phone calls.

Now, I go to my PCP to maintain me. We tweak things as we can and I have learned to ride out relapses as they occur.

Insurance plans are all so different. I wound up having to pay %80 of what was "fair and customary"...those are insurance terms...

It was a lot of expense, but it gave me my quality of life back!

Some people have not found Mayo helpful for them so please do not hesitate to do your research into your options.

[janiedelite]

Sorry to steer this thread in a little direction but ,I always wondered it works to go to a place like Mayo. You get a treatment plan and take that to your own doctor? How do you know they will follow the plan? Also if you're out of your state does you insurance pay for Mayo?

I think it's always good to have a conversation with your primary physician before you go to Mayo and make sure they're willing to follow the Mayo recommendations. Your primary physician might be your PCP, cardiologist, neurologist, whoever referred you to Mayo or whoever you feel is most willing to help you.

You'll have to contact your insurance plan. As for me, I was blessed to have my Oregon insurance plan consider Mayo as in-network. Sometimes if you can prove that no one in your existing network can provide adequate testing or treatment, you can petition to have Mayo or another treating facility to be billed as in-network. Regardless, we always save up enough money to cover the maximum out-of-pocket each year because it seems like I always have unexpected health care needs.

As for following up with Mayo, my neurologist there said he'd "keep my chart open" for a year in case I got worse and needed to return. By doing that, I would be able to just call and make an appointment with him and not have to go through the lengthy application process to be a Mayo patient or have a physician referral. I didn't get worse in my year following my initial visit, but I did have an incident when my cardiologist wanted to collaborate with my Mayo neurologist regarding a new symptom. It took a few phonecalls from my cardio because apparently there was a huge blizzard in Rochester during that time. But the Mayo neuro did call him, had my chart notes to refer to, and they were able to collaborate.

I've been able to develop a treatment plan with the help of local docs, but Mayo was so helpful to run the tests I needed. And getting diagnosed there helped validate my SSDI claim. If I get worse and my local docs are stymied, I would return to Mayo.

[houswoea]

Sorry to steer this thread in a little direction but ,I always wondered it works to go to a place like Mayo. You get a treatment plan and take that to your own doctor? How do you know they will follow the plan? Also if you're out of your state does you insurance pay for Mayo?

Steer away! For me it was less about finding a working treatment plan, but investigating the cause of the problems in the first place. My doctors at home pretty much said "I can't help you, go to Mayo and don't come back until you do"... in nicer words of course. They have since happily followed all the instructions the Mayo Clinic sent to them since I've been back. And I live in state, but I don't think it made much difference insurance-wise. I thought it was very reasonably priced. Considering.

You should allow a similar amount of time.

I've been there three times and am confident that my current treatment plan is the best.

Did it really take more than just a day or two to follow up? I can't imagine there is much left to even test me for. Why did it take so long for you? I don't even know why he wanted me to come back, he just said, "well, I'm going to schedule you for a visit three months from now so you can come back and we'll see how things are." and so I guess I'll go, but I'm not sure why.

[Guest tearose]

You may need lees time depending on your body challenges.

I have lymphatic issues and I also tend to trigger total symptom flares after tests so we needed to book these apart from each other.

Didn't you find that even the first time you went, things took longer than expected?

I am sure your main Mayo doctor will be the best resource for you.

best regards,

tearose