Mayo Clinic appointments

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude," Maya Angelou .





When I met yesterday with the woman frustrated in getting an accurate medical diagnosis and some answers for her husband with symptoms of dementia, it occurred to me that others may not know that if you want an appointment with Mayo Clinic, all you have to do is call them yourself. 507-538-3270 is the phone line for appointments at Rochester, Minnesota, or for hearing impaired, 507-281-9786, or visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/ for additional information. The woman I met with now has an appointment at Mayo Clinic in March, 2011, after calling them herself; she had waited for one year for her local doctor to facilitate the appointment.



I am not advocating Mayo Clinic above all others. I know there are other good ones, Johns Hopkins University in Maryland springs to mind, and I am sure there are many in other countries. But if you live in a rural area in the United States and want a very good, comprehensive evaluation for dementia - or other medical conditions, Mayo Clinic is a godsend. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of getting a thorough, comprehensive medical evaluation to give you the best answers for dementia. At Mayo Clinic when we initially went, Dwane saw a general practitioner, a neurologist, a neuropsychologist, neuropsychiatrist, a psychiatrist; in addition to having blood work, cognitive testing, sleep study (which is important in Lewy Bodies Dementia) and a CAT scan. Oddly enough, it was the young psychiatrist who gave us our definitive diagnosis. The thing about Mayo Clinic is that a patient sees whatever speciality is needed, AND they communicate their findings to each other via their computer systems. The work of collaborating your symptomatology is done for you. As caregivers for dementia our tasks are difficult enough. We need the best possible medical information to assist us and the person for whom we provide care.