A Visit to the Mayo Clinic

On Thursday Oct. 18 Don and I made the 3 hour drive south to Rochester.  I had an early call at the Mayo...645am to be exact so we decided to spend Thursday night versus driving down Friday.  After arriving around 7pm at the Kahler Grand we had a nice dinner at the hotel and got to bed early.  Both of us were tired, and all though it was a restless night at least we could pretend to sleep!  :)

The next morning we took the "subway" or tunnel system over to the Gonda Building and checked in.  My first impression was how how beautiful it was, and how kind everyone was!  When we got to Oncology they had a folder for us with a detailed schedule of everything we'd be doing that day, as well as a map of the campus.  It also contained information about the clinc and the Dr. we'd be meeting.  We were extremely impressed.  Then off we went.  Blood tests, xray, more blood tests, and then a one hour appointment with the oncologist.  She was really wonderful and made me feel like I was her only patient.  A PET scan was ordered and off we went for that.  At the end of the day the news was very good!  NO NEW TUMORS!!!  The two tumors I have are still active but have not metastized further...yee ha.  The constant pain that I have been having is from my current tumors as well as from a cracked rib, a side effect of the radiation.  It is also probably from stress.  Therefore, I need to start managing my pain better with the pain meds that my Drs have prescribed!  I am doing so and it is really helping.  Imagine that :)!  The most reassuring part was that this Dr. would not have done anything different than Dr. H my Oncologist in St. Cloud!  That made me soooo happy and made me feel so secure!  Although I felt sure all along it was just great to hear!

So now we're home, feeling sassy if not a bit groggy from meds.  But that too will pass!  Thank you all for your beautiful comments and loving prayers....they mean so much!  I'll keep you posted. 

Blessings, Kathy