Dr. Fox was unprofessional and she refused to schedule additional tests that my local doctor recommended. I was supposed to have a EGD/colonoscopy, but they were booked for a week. Instead of spending the money to fly home and back, I wanted to stay in Rochester for the week. I didn't have enough meds to make it through the week, so I asked her to write them for me. She refused. When I was back home, I asked to speak with her before flying back. When she called I questioned her because I didn't want to be labeled as IBS without exhaustive testing. She didn't want to hear any of it, and didn't like that I wasn't just going to blindly accept her testing/treatment plan. She got so mad that she actually hung up on me. So I asked for a new GI, but with the physician "buddy system", the new GI agreed with Dr. Fox. I never went back. I went to the Cleveland Clinic, and as I thought, Dr. Fox was wrong. They found colitis. So for me, the Mayo Clinic was $6,000 down the drain.
It doesn't have to be that way for you though. But you can't go into it blind, like I did. I'll try to help you out as much as I can.
First, when is your appointment? They should send you a schedule and a map in the mail at least a few weeks before your appointment. It probably won't say who you're seeing, so definitely call and find out. It's really important to have an idea of who your doctor will be.
Second, the GI fellows are knowledgeable, but mostly only in the interests of their supervising physician. My GI's interests were IBS and Motility, so the fellow was very centered on those two aspects of gastroenterology. Neither of them ever mentioned Crohn's or IBD. I also found the GI fellow to be very robotic. She was more concerned with meaningless specifics for her report than the total picture of what was really going on with me. Neither the GI nor the fellow had any bedside manner.
In terms of your renal and pulmonary care, it somewhat depends on your referral, unless you were able to get in on your own. If you were referred, it depends on what was written by the referring physician. If you got in on your own, it depends on what records you sent in. The normal practice at the Mayo Clinic is to assign each patient an internist, who then determines which specialists you need to see. You may be able to just explain when you get there, but you're much better off giving them a heads up about all of the issues that you need checked out. Also, if you haven't already, send all records pertaining to all the medical problems you would like addressed. Everything is computerized, so you don't have to worry about the records getting to specialists right now.
Most people think that because you have traveled all the way to Rochester, you will be able to get all of the appointments, tests, and procedures done while you are there. However, certain departments and certain tests or procedures do get booked up. In my case, they couldn't get me in for a colonoscopy for 10 days. That's why I said it is definitely better to have all of your records in their system long before you arrive for your appointment. Their scheduling system is pretty intuitive and high-tech, as it spans all departments and specialties. So if you have tests scheduled at gastroenterology, they can see it over in Nephrology and schedule their tests around the GI tests. But you have to give them enough time to make the schedule. If you have someone at Mayo that you have spoken with before, make sure you tell them EVERYTHING. That should help them to arrange a schedule based on the amount of time you will be there. Do that as soon as possible.
Sorry that this is so long, but I wanted to make sure you had all of the information that I didn't have when I went. Let me know if you find anything out, and don't hesitate to ask me any other questions you may have. Also, if you need a direct phone number to Gastroenterology, let me know. I can provide that to you as well.
Brian
