The Sandwich part 2

The Sandwich part 2

Well there’s a title for ya… especially since there was no sandwich part 1. Who cares, I was just trying to sneak in a reference to lettuce, tomatoes, and Mayo. Yes ladies and gents I am here and I can finally start to update you as to what’s going on down here in lovely Rochester, MN (that’s right, NY is not the only place that has a Rochester, Minnesota has its own).

When I first arrived and walked in to that opulent lobby my first thought was damn… what an opulent lobby. Actually what I thought was, money does buy you better health care. The Mayo Clinic is in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. It has about 100,000 people here and about a third of its population works for the hospital. It has been grey 98% of the time, something like a Hamilton grey, or a Cornwall grey without the funky smell. The people are really friendly, but you often wonder if it is the kinda friendly you feel on an all inclusive resort where you know they are being nice to keep their job. The longer I spend here the more a feel that I am wrong. Rochester is a friendly town full of great people. Random ‘good mornings’ everywhere, people holding doors open for you, elevator jokes, and smiling faces … everywhere. Paying for premium medical service is a whole can of worms on to itself, but let me tell you, it is the most efficient, knowledgeable, award winning can of worms you will ever set eyes on.

That lobby doesn’t show off money that has been spent to “show off”, that lobby clearly announces that you have arrived somewhere that is far above normal. The more time I spend here the more that lobby welcomes me with open arms letting me know that I’m going to be ok… I have arrived at the right place. The lobby is a grand statement of “We know what we are doing, and we do it well”.

For the last two days I have been in awe of the well oiled machine that is the Mayo Clinic. Doctors achieving things in hours what took months if not years in Ottawa. Consultations on the phone… lab work in the same building… a neurology department ranked number one in America and the world for 17 years straight. Oddly enough they speak highly of the Canadian system, and mention Ontario as one of their favourite provinces. Funny thing is - many of our specialists are down there being trained. Some undoubtedly will return, but I suspect some won’t.

The pace is a bit overwhelming at first. Sign-in, meet head doctor, go do tests, pee in a bottle, take blood, go home sleep, come back 7 am, shoot electricity through a vein, go eat come back wait for next doctor, sign up for neurology consult, go go go. Now, to be fair, this place is set up to operate this way. Doctors all have access to each other, can call each other anytime of day and ask each other questions, a central data base of patient information, collective knowledge, medical information etc. Every imaginable test, lab, machine etc is available on the one campus. If you run into an emergency, the St Mary hospital is attached at the back, you don’t even have to go outside… there are tunnels. Hey E Health, you may want to visit this place.

They are taking good care of me. They have assured me I won’t leave without knowing exactly what’s wrong. There is some possibly sad news that gets attached to that, but I will cross that bridge in due time. The good news is there is no permanent muscle damage, which we knew from before, but there is something to be said about delivery under the “we think so” cloud versus the “I can tell you for sure” cloud. We are currently doing a tango with the pathology reports and slides from my previous biopsies. They want to review the slides with the whole ‘award winning crew’ to verify all the tests that should have been done, have been done. Hopefully all questions will get answered without having to take another sample. Muscle biopsies are just not fun!!! So one more full-day and then maybe a mini break before they figure out what direction they wish to proceed.

I could write more details but I think you get the idea. I am coming home knowing what’s wrong with me… no guessing, no generalizations... a finger is being pointed at something specific and a plan of how to deal with it included. Oh happy day!!!

I miss the kids… really miss them. MM has convinced me there are boogey men out to get him because he isn’t sleeping in his own bed, but a new book from the Bones series will solve that problem real quick. Hmmm we’ll file that one under negotiating skills. That other dude… well he’s not talking to me right now… he’s not upset, it’s just not what a cool dude would do. When did I stop being a cool dude?

Wish me luck; tomorrow (actually later today now) will be the turning point of what has nearly been a decade of turmoil. Here’s to progress! And once again, to all of you who helped me get here, a deep felt thank you… Thank You!

I leave you with two lovely quotes… first one from KM in reference to crazy questions regarding timing of events… “two best times to plant an oak tree, 25 years ago, or today”

The second comes from my head doctor here at the Mayo… “doctors often operate within the confines of their own ignorance”.

Have, live, and be a great day!

I will let you know how it goes.