Mayo: Day 1

It's been a very long day. We left the hotel about 6:45am and arrived back around 6:00pm.

It's hard to describe the the magnitude of the Mayo Clinic and the two hospitals associated with it. One of the hospitals seems like a city in itself and the Mayo Clinic is not for those, like myself, who are directionally challenged! The place is huge but well run. It looks more like a mall and hotel lobby then it does a medical building, and that is just in the area we were in.

Mike's app't with the endocrinologist went well. We both liked her a lot. She ordered a ton of blood work and follow up appt's for Friday and Monday. She will be checking all endocrine levels and compare them on the follow up app'ts. This will give her some idea of how much everything fluctuates and hopefully give her time to put together a treatment plan. She also wants him to be seen by a neurologist who specializes in headaches and one that specializes in seizures. There were no openings today but they have a policy for patients which is like flying stand by on an airplane. We went to the neurology department and put Mike's name on a list. The thought is that if there is a cancellation or if someone doesn't show up for their app't then those on the list can take that app't. You can put your name on the list between 7-11 and 12-4. Mike had his name on the list at about 12:30...and so the wait began...and we waited and we waited...nothing opened up today. We will try again tomorrow. We will take the same shuttle in the morning and arrive just before 7:30 and wait and wait some more if need be. Mike will contact the endocrinologist in the morning to see if she is able to expedite the app't with a neurologist.

I was so taken with the thought of how many people are sick...some very sick. We saw much diversity among patients, some old, some young, people from different countries. I watched so many elderly come to the clinic with as much hope as we did. Some were alone and sick, that was hard to watch. Some had such a hard time walking you wondered if they would make it to their appointment on time. The was one man who got on the shuttle with us this morning who suffered with an obvious movement disorder. He struggled just to take one step but the look of determination on his face and the constant smile was inspiring. I wondered how his appointment went today. Many of the older patients were so cute holding hands and clinging to each other. Some were women who were sick and accompanied by their husbands who seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Some were men being supported by their wives who carried all the medical records and seemed to be the one trying to figure out which direction to go to get to their app't.

Some were a long way from home and for some this wasn't their first trip to the Mayo. You could tell from the look on some faces that today was a hard day, maybe they received bad news. And I wondered what it would be like to be them today...realizing some day that very well could be Dick and me. What would it be like? I am sure we would be holding hands and I know if either of us were seriously sick we would be there for each other but if finding our way around was up to me ...we'd be in big trouble! But what if one us has to go through a medical crisis without the other? Then I was reminded of the encouragement I slipped under Mike's door this morning from DT 31:8...The Lord Himself goes before me and will be with me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged! No matter what season of life we are in, no matter what the condition of our health is, we are never alone if we know Him!

More on day two...with less rambling!