Sharing Mayo Clinic - July 2014 Archives

At age 39, Tom Peroulas was active and fit. Coaching and playing rugby, biking to work in downtown Chicago, and exercising daily kept him in good shape. So when he started noticing pain in his leg, groin and hip, he thought it was probably related to activity. He tried stretching and yoga. He rested it. He worked with a physical therapist. Nothing helped. After several months of persistent pain, Tom turned to his doctor, who referred him to a specialist in orthopedics. By the time he turned 40, in April 2013, tests revealed the startling reason for his discomfort: an uncommon kind of cancer called chondrosarcoma that begins in the cartilage around bones. The cancer was affecting Tom's hip socket, or acetabulum. But although the source of the pain had become clear, the best way to deal with it had not. Faced with a wide range of surgical options, Tom dove into researching his choices. After an exhaustive search that had him talking with physicians as far away as Canada and Europe, he decided to go to Mayo Clinic. Using a unique technique for hip reconstruction, the orthopedic surgery Tom had at Mayo allowed him to return to his life with the cancer removed and chances good that he won't need another reconstruction in the future. 

Growing up in South Dakota, Brandon Mauck had heard stories about the famous medical institution surrounded by cornfields in Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic's reputation inspired him to become part of the Mayo organization, and for the past four years, he has been working in the Department of Nursing at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. What he perhaps wasn't expecting is how strongly his beliefs about the organization would be confirmed through his personal experience and that of his young family. Recently, Brandon wrote to Mayo Clinic's president and CEO, John Noseworthy, M.D., to recount a personal story that confirmed his pride in Mayo. “I must say that I never imagined that I would be so well cared for by my employer," he writes. "I feel it is vitally important to say ‘thank you’ and make sure you all know how grateful I am.” It all started in late 2013, at a family gathering in North Dakota in 2013. Brandon had traveled there with his wife, Becky, and two daughters, Annastyn, then 3, and Maci, then 2. Just a few hours after their arrival for the festivities, Becky, who was 29 weeks pregnant, went into premature labor. “Being in rural North Dakota and three hours away from trusted medical care was quite distressing,” Brandon says.