Everyone always wonders what the infamous Mayo experience is like. You hear it is a well oiled machine, all your testing in one place (various sections of the big medical building/campus but easy to navigate), you get into each scheduled test anywhere from 5-25 minutes from your appointment time, then you see your doctor or advanced practice nurse practitioner at the final appointment to review all your results, condition, and plan of care - ALL IN ONE DAY!

Meet my friend Beth. She was born with a bicuspid aortic valve (Typically, the aortic valve has three cusps - tricuspid aortic valve - but some people are born with an aortic valve that has two cusps- bicuspid). She has been seeing her cardiologist for years and then with further check up, there was a widening of her aorta (small aneurysm) which prompted her cardiologist to refer her to a Mayo specialist who follows her (in case anything worsens and surgical repair or replacement is needed). She is at her 3rd yearly appointment since being referred to the cardiology team at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. This is the first year she is seeing the "Valve Clinic" team.

Needless to say, she is no novice here and had us booked in a hotel right across the street from the entrance to all her appts and in walking distance to wherever we needed to go. Her family now knows this is just a routine check and if they didn't have to take the 4.5 hour trip, so be it. So, for lack of nothing better to do, I joined her. No, really, I was happy that my schedule was open. How many people are able to take their nurse practitioner/friend to these appointments??????

As a nurse practitioner, I have always wondered what the experience entailed at the infamous #1 ranked hospital in our nation. So, I joined my friend on her journey.

We arrived in MN at 5:30 pm. Unpacked. We found ourselves a quaint dinner spot called Chester's. As you can see from the picture, we had a delicious, healthy meal served to us. Unfortunately, you can't see the hunk of a waiter who served us. He was a super handsome young man who also shared that he follows at Mayo every six months for a longstanding autoimmune condition for which he did not reveal. Beth had to do a 12 hour fast so she could have clean lab work for the morning.

Schedule for the following day:

0800: Lab

0900: EKG

0955: Echo

1150: Chest Xray

1400: (2 pm) Appointment with APRN (NP)

You are asked not to check in but 15 minutes before your lab/appt.

For lab, you check in and take a seat in a pretty big waiting room. Patients are called to either door 1, 2, or 3. I'd say we waited 20 minutes to get called. We had time to get coffee and sit outside until EKG at 0900.

For EKG, you check in and take a seat in a medium sized waiting room. She was called back within 5-10 minutes.

You have multiple patches attached to your chest/abdomen/limbs and a machine takes a recording of your heart rhythm. This will be read by a cardiologist and results available prior to her 2 pm appt.

It was 9:24 am and we were on are way up to the echo department. Here is where it got interesting. A staff member from the cardiology department asked her if she would be part of a study. Get this...they recorded her voice reading a story. They are studying whether or not a voice recording can identify if someone has pulmonary hypertension. What???!!!!

She currently does not have pulmonary hypertension diagnosed. So, if in 2-5 years you hear about a heart diagnosis based on your voice...you first heard it here!

I am currently typing and sitting in on her 45 minute echocardiogram - ultrasound of her heart - where she is having her heart muscle, function, and valves checked. Her echo technologist is a pleasant young female with a very polite affect and welcoming demeanor. She acknowledged clinic recommendations to have visitors stay in lobby but kindly obliged Beth's request to have me accompany her for which I in turn thanked the technologist for letting me join.

For Echo, she was called in right on time. We were informed this would take 90 minutes-45 for the echo and 45 for the cardiologist to read and post the results. It is 1045 and she is still getting her echo performed. We have plenty of time yet for the chest X-ray at 1150.

The CXR was pretty uneventful and was in and out. She actually checked in 15 minutes early and was done in 10 minutes which was a bonus because we were hungry and ready to do lunch.

LUNCH AT THE CRAVE

Our server was a sweet young lady recently re-located from Phoenix AZ. Her husband just started his orthopedic rotation at Mayo Clinic and she was pleasantly surprised at what Rochester MN had to offer. I can honestly say it is a beautiful city. So clean! The buildings are well kept. The restaurants are nice. I realize the winters may be cold and harsh at times, but was happy for her that she felt good about their new endeavors and we were visiting in the summer.

Seriously, if any of you ever are in Rochester, I highly recommend this place...just click on the link and you can see the beautiful ambience and menu. We ordered some lettuce wraps, sushi rolls, wild rice soup, and, of course, our lemon water. Go easy on the soy please given the high sodium content, but our waitress assured us that they use "low sodium". Healthy and DELICIOUS.

Finally, our last appt with the cardiology nurse practitioner. We got done with lunch around 1:30. Plenty of time to make the appt. We checked in 15 minutes early of course. This time we waited though. It was a 2 pm appt and got in at 2:30...not too bad. Being a nurse practitioner myself, it was fun to see what I look like in the seat across from me and Beth. She was very kind, personable, and welcoming to both of us. She interviewed Beth and reviewed all the cardiac symptoms that would alarm her to worry if Beth's heart or valves were giving her issues. She then asked if there were any other symptoms or things she noticed that we didn't hit on. Beth and I shared those things and felt we addressed all questions. We then went through her EPIC chart and reviewed all the results of the day. 60 minute appointments here!

Good news, Beth's echo and ekg were stable and no signs of worsening as far as her valve function, aneurysm, and heart rhythm goes. Her blood pressure is good. Labs were overall ok but her CHOLESTEROL PANEL provided a bit more for discussion. In a year, her LOUSY cholesterol or LDL went up 60 points - 120 to 180. You want that to be less than 100 when you have heart issues (less than 70 if you've ever had stroke or heart attack). Her triglycerides were 330 (goal <150). Her HAPPY cholesterol or HDL was pretty good at 58, greater than 60 is ideal. Here is where a health care provider may enter your numbers in the ASCVD (arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease) risk calculator to see if a statin medication (cholesterol lowering med) is indicated. So, you can imagine the ride home was filled with reading about the Mediterranean diet and MIND diet, meal planning, reviewing what foods to avoid. If you are curious about your cardiac risk, enter your most recent cholesterol numbers, blood pressure, and answer questions in the link above. Beth's numbers were entered in the risk calculator and her risk came out to be 3.3% risk for heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. However, Beth's dad has known cardiac disease and she has a higher risk based on family history of heart disease and her current congenital aortic valve condition along with hypertension. These things are taken into account and her cardiology team continues to keep a close eye on her.

What else do you want to know? Well, if you take a long car ride with Beth, you will listen to "audible" and immerse yourself in several crime junkie podcast stories. HGTV is also a fav of hers. In all seriousness, it was a delightful experience and one I am glad to have shared with a dear friend. I was elated to share in good, stable news and to arrive home safely, knowing my friend is healthy and managing herself well.

I wish you all health and happiness.

If there is anything I can do for you from a Now and Zen Health and Wellness standpoint, I am here for you!

Our next SUGAR BUSTER 5 day campaign is coming up...September 11th. Now is the time to get ready and commit! Click on the link for details, ordering, and registration. I do have a Jumpstart Kit on hand for anyone who prefers to get from me:)

Upcoming exercise schedules will be posted after the Labor Day Weekend! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Reset, Rejuvenate, Renew...Be You!

Janet