Going to Mayo from Northern California

[Cheriejolay]

Hello, I am new to this forum, and just wanted to introduce myself. 20 years ago, my aortic valve was either torn, or perforated during an attempted catheter ablation of an accessory electrical pathway in my heart. Since that time, I have had aortic regurgitation, which is now classified as "severe", with increasing shortness of breath.
I've been working with my local cardiologist, and we were in the process of planning for an AVR, when I attended an echo confererence put on by the Mayo Clinic, in Napa, CA.(I am a cardiac sonographer, and yes, I see the irony :wink2. I was able to meet Drs Nishimura, and Miller, who actually performed an echo on me at the conference, and they believe that my valve can be repaired, rather than replaced. They are also confident that they can ablate the pathway to prevent SVT (supra-ventricular tachycardia).
Sooo, I'm in the process of seeing about going to Mayo in Rochester to get this done. From what I can gather, it looks like my insurance company considers them to be "within network", so hoping that won't be an issue. I'm wondering about the logistics of traveling to Minnesota from California (not so much the "going", but the "coming home after"), and where to stay, and how long I have to wait before flying, etc. I realize length of stay is dependent on my post-op course, but just looking for an estimate. Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in similar situation.

Thanks in advance, for any information! Cherie

 

[Lynlw]

I know a few members travel to Mayo, so know good places to stay ect. kfay is one of them, hopefully they will be on, but today will probably be a little slow.
Welcome

 

[kfay]

Cherie, I have travelled to the Mayo for heart sugery in 2008 and then ablations in June and Sept. of 2009. All of those times, we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott which is right accross the street from St. Mary's (I stay somewhere else when I'm just going to the clinic). It's easy for my husband to just pop in and out of the hospital when he's literally just right across the street. It is one of the more expensive places, so if you need something more reasonable, there are plenty around, just ask me though, some of them are pretty old. If you decide to stay closer to the clinic (about 1.5 -2 miles away, they have a free shuttle between the hospital, hotels, and the clinic that runs all day).

I'm assuming they are planning on doing your ablation the day before your surgery and then surgery the next day then you'll hopefully be out of the hospital within a week? They really don't seem to have any problems with you flying out right away. After my surgery, I was in the hospital for a week and I got discharged on day 8 I think and we flew home on day 10. It was a hard day but very doable with a wheelchair in the airport. I know others who have hung around for an extra week to see the surgeon again before they left town and my surgeon was good either way.

I'm really happy to answer any questions you might have. Just pm with any questions.