tammy63

I need to take my husband to the best for his bad neck. He has seen neurosurgens in Oklahoma but they can't seem to offer anything to help him. He has virtually no cartlidge and tons of arthritis built up and we need to hear from the best that he has to live like this forever before we will believe it. I have always heard to go to Mayo and we are ready to go but now have found that there are three locations. Is one location better than the other? There is the one in Rochester, Jacksonville Floriday and one somewhere in Arizona. I noticed online that there seem to be more doctors at the one in Rochester. Any info. or help will be appreciated.

repete

The main clinic is Rochester, but you need to go to the doctors that are a best fit for you.

Neopolitan

So true, whether you want to believe it or not there is no such thing as the "best" doctor in any field.

landlcochran

The concept behind the Mayo clinic that makes it so successful is that the various doctors work as a "team". So, if you schedule an appointment, in the series of a few days, they will schedule and coordinate all the appointments and the physicians will work together i.e. neurologist, orthopedic, cardiac, etc (whatever is needed) This is especially helpful when you are dealing with multiple health problems. The facility in Rochester is the best at this. Phoenix is getting better and Jacksonville is still alot of separate fiefdoms who don't talk to each other. I was at a meeting last year with the President of the Mayo clinic spoke and reported this.

I'm not sure; but I think that you may need to get referral from your attending physicians.

Good Luck,

Linda

DebitNM

Do you have medical insurance? If so, you most likely will have to be sure they will pay for treatments at Mayo or anywhere else. IF it is a HMO they may not pay at all or IF it is a PPO, you may have to pay a lot more than you normally do since they will be out of network most likely.

I would imagine you would need a referral from you primary care physician and I would check to see what, if any, criteria Mayo has for accepting patients.

Also, I would think your husband would be better off seeing an orthopedic surgeon as they deal with these kinds of issues and often can do surgery to relieve some of the pain. And there are injections{Hyalgan} that are done for certain types of arthritis that may be possible for his neck. They offer most patients great relief.

As always, remember that this is a TRAVEL board and you should discuss this with you physician.

Hope this helps...
Debi

DebitNM

Sorry, meant to add this...

http://arthritis.about.com/od/hyalgan/

Debi

Underhill

An M.D. friend of mine was on the staff at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for many years, and from what she's told me that's where I'd go. Besides seeing a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon you might want want to consult someone in physical medicine.

I've had arthritic pain in my neck for years, and the only thing that really helps with the pain is regular acupuncture. So that's another idea for you. Good luck!

DebitNM

Sorry-- Hyalgan is for knees [weight bearing joints] not neck.

Try a physiologist or anesthesiologist [who can do facette injections] too.

Debi

tammy63

Thanks so much for the input everyone. I originally made the appointment at the Jacksonville Florida location simply because of the location. We were able to do that without a physician referral. I have not made any travel arrangements yet and have noticed that the amount of doctors in all areas in Rochester is about 1200 to Jacksonvilles 3 or 4 hundred. I am pretty sure that I could change his appointment location is desired. That is why I came here for help! I new that many of you would have insight and probably traveled to some of these places for help yourself. My husbands primary insurance is medicare so I hope that works out ok. I

happytourist

Go to Rochester. I am most impressed with their team approach, as noted above, and that they instantly computerize the records so that everything is available to the staff at each step of the way. Our Mayo experience in our family: one broken back, one premature baby (2 lbs 2 oz), one diabetic, one leukemia, one hit by a train (she lived only because of Mayo--fortunately they live 90 miles away). We swear by Rochester. However, you will probably need a primary care physician's referral.

Cali

I really recommend Mayo in Rochester, MN. Both my husband and I have had surgery there and they are fabulous. We also have gone to the Scottsdale location (we live in S. CA so it is closer) and it was fine, but Rochester was the best. Good Luck!!

nytraveler

First of all - the best person for your husbands problem may not be at her Mayo Clinic. There are expert MDs in various specific problems in all parts of the country.

So - I would start with your family MD and ask him or her to give you the names of thr best they know of in the field. Then contact them for consultations. If the problem is really difficult and the MD is not comfortable handling it he will refer you on.

(My SIL has a hip problem and this process got her to the ONE MD in New York who is comfortable dealing with her problem - and has even resolved much more extreme examples.)

Then you need to figure out the insurance. (I don;t know about in other parts of the country but in NYC MANY expert MDs won;t take insurance - since the payments are so low. So - it's better if you both have different insurance - so one will be primary and the other secondaary. And you may well have to pay for a significant part of the treatment out of pocket. ( Her MD consulted with the insurance companies and it's only going to cost them about $15,000 out of pocket. But what's worth it more than your health?)

SuzieTrue

A co-worker just returned from the Mayo in MN two weeks ago. Every other Dr she saw was convinced she had thyroid cancer. The experts on the particular type of thyroid cancer were at Mayo. Thank goodness, she had a benign form of that type of cell which the Drs at Mayo had done extensive research on. Good luck with your decision.

wyatt92

I work in the medical field and I'm alarmed that people are giving medical advice on a travel board. Sharing your own experiences in one thing but actually recommending certain treatments is just ridiculous.

The OP should speak to an actual physician to get advice on where and how her husband should be treated.

Neopolitan

wyatt, what are you reading here that I can't see? Or have some posts been removed? I see several people mentioning treatments they've had or are aware of, but not one person that I see is "giving medical advice". As you say, it's one thing to mention a latest technique that's worth checking out with your doctor and quite another to suggest that it would be right for someone or they should do it. But I don't see the latter happening here. The only specific recommendation I see is "you need to go to the doctors that are a best fit" and similar statements, which I don't think are exactly controversial statements. What am I missing?

AuntAnnie

We used to live in Rochester. We had to go to Peds Urology with one daughter and had great care. When our other daughter had a rare fungal pneumonia we stayed in our small town hospital but our doctor was consulting with infectious disease at Mayo. My FIL was treated for heart problems and my Uncle for throat cancer there. It is big and can feel very impersonal when you are in a huge waiting room, but overall the quality of care is excellent. You might get a doc you don't care for; it is humanity we are talking about, but it is a renowned diagnostic center. The downtown area has hotels, cafes and conveniences that cater to clinic visitors. You can park your car and walk to everything you will need. Good luck. Pain is no fun. I am sending warm thoughts your way!!

tammy63

Wyatt92 I appreciate your concern about others giving "medical advice" but I don't see any problems here and even if someone told me about a specific procedure I don't think that would effect the location I chose. We have seen several good local physicians that would love to help my husband but can't and I have decided that I would like to try a Mayo clinic. I realize this is a travel board and that is actually why I posted here. I was in hopes that some have traveled to these three locations and could give me their opinions and many have done just that and I appreciate it. I have never been to Rochester MN or Jacksonville FL or Scottsdale AR so everyone has helped me tremendously.
thanks

Gretchen

And it is entirely possible that your help is at the med school in Oklahoma. Have you seen a neurologist instead of a neurosurgeon? Have you seen a pain specialist? If your current family doctor or neurosurgeon cannot help you further ask that person for a referral to an appropriate specialist. Surgeons often approach a problem differently from a non-surgical specialty.
My husband is a doctor and our best friend was the head of a dept. at Mayo. It is a HUGE HUGE group practice with a well deserved reputation for excellence.

Barbara

Gretchen brings up an excellent point, of all the doctors your husband has seen who are unable to help him, have you asked any of them to refer your husband to someone who could help him? While the Mayo Clinic does have an excellent reputation, it is not the only place in the US to find excellent medical care and it may not be the best place for your husband's specific needs.

padams421

OP- Do your medical research for your husband's specific condition. While Mayo is a great place, it is not the "best" place for every condition or illness. When my MIL had a brain tumor a few years ago, she initially wnated to go to Mayo just because of its overall reputation. As we researched her condition, we found the "experts" on her type of brain tumor were a group of doctors in California. If I were you, at a minimum, I'd start with the one of the medical schools in Oklahoma.