Sharing Mayo Clinic - March 2009 Archives

Generally when the heart of Adrian Fernandez is beating at a frenetic pace, he’s behind the wheel of a race car, and a highly trained and loyal pit crew is waiting around the next turn of the track to spring into action. Not so much when Adrian was on the treadmill at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, submitting to a rigorous workout of a totally different kind. His “pit crew” came in the form of skilled, compassionate cardiac professionals. And this time, Adrian was on his own to prove his performance – cardiac performance, as opposed to driving proficiency. Sonographer Nan Pearson was among those who helped guide Adrian through Mayo Clinic’s new Heart Health and Performance Program, including his stress echo test, a diagnostic tool generally not used unless previous cardiac symptoms had been detected. A cardiac sonographer is able to view images of the heart and blood vessels to detect subtle differences between normal and potentially diseased areas and present the data for interpretation. But Adrian was motivated to participate in comprehensive screening to determine his heart health. Not only does he need to maintain fitness for his racing profession, he has a wife and two young children to think about. And, he admits, “I have a cholesterol issue.”

As an employee at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, I find myself frequently scurrying through the many buildings on the downtown campus as I go about my day. One of my favorite places to walk through is the subway level of the Gonda Building, also known as the Nathan Landow Atrium. Sitting in front of a two-story high wall of windows is a beautiful grand piano that is available for anyone to play. It’s not uncommon to hear patients, visitors, volunteers and staff share their gift of music with those in the area. Since music is an important and enjoyable part of my life, I find myself looking forward to walking through the building and hearing people play the piano or accompany themselves while singing a favorite song. Whether the person is playing a classical piece, a popular song, a song from a musical, a jazz composition, a favorite hymn or a recital piece, I’ve been touched numerous times by the people sitting at that piano.

Lee Aase (@LeeAase) is Mayo Clinic's manager for syndication and social media.nnnnIn previous "Social Media Saturday" posts I've introduced Mayo Clinic's Facebook page and YouTube channel. Those are Mayo Clinic's longer-established social networking platforms, and like the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog they have significant potential for sharing information, enabling patients and staff to make connections and bringing the worldwide Mayo Clinic community together.nnTwitter is another popular and rapidly growing social site for making connections and spreading information rapidly. You've probably seen a lot about it in the news recently. YouTube now features Twitter among its ways to share videos with friends. Yesterday's New York Times had an article about celebrities "tweeting" (the verb for Twitter activity), and ABC News has a similar story.nnMayo Clinic's Twitter account has been active for about a year, established well before all the recent hype. Until now it has mainly provided a way for Twitter users to get updates on the latest Mayo Clinic news. But the rapid growth of Twitter's user base now makes it potentially much more useful for connecting the Mayo Clinic community.nn

Helen Buescher was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006. Since then, she has traveled several times from her home in northern Minnesota to Mayo Clinic in ...

Jeff Bell is the Section Head of Illustration and Design at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. Jeff and his team are responsible for all of Mayo's media design. In 2003 I asked Randy McKeeman, Director of Child Life at Mayo Clinic’s children’s hospital, what he thought about the idea of me coming over to draw pictures for the pediatric patients. He agreed to let me give it a try. I didn’t tell Randy at the time but I’m not a performance artist and although I knew I could draw fairly well, I was scared to death to do it on demand while someone watched. I had no idea what would happen, it just seemed like a good idea. A week or so later I began. I got on the shuttle to Saint Marys Hospital from the Mayo building with a nervous feeling in my stomach, a pad of paper under my arm and a fist-full of Sharpie markers thinking “what have I gotten myself into?” I remember my very first little customer, an eight-year-old cherub-like boy in a wheelchair who was hooked up to a beeping chemo machine. I asked him what he wanted me to draw for him. He smiled, looked down at his fuzzy slipper-clad feet, wiggled them and happily blurted out, “I want you to draw my bunny slippers.” I thought to myself, “Thank goodness, I think I can do that.” I then proceeded to create a decent facsimile adding his name in cartoon balloon letters for flair. I knew from then on I could never guess what I was going to be asked to draw.

From my office window where I work in Education at Mayo Clinic, I see the massive Gonda Building.  And from nine in the morning until noon, the sunlight reflects off the windows, revealing the scene inside, and I watch it unfold before me. Patients sit and doze in the sunlight, people walk to their appointments, doctors bustle through the hallways, and an elderly man paces back and forth, waiting for something....or someone.  Through those windows, you see it all - the desperation, the joy, the hope and the fear of our patients.  Once you're here, you're here for a reason.

Ooooh, a Dragon Boat race! I have always wanted to be on a rowing team. Maybe I missed my calling to be on a great collegiate team at a Division I school. Well, honestly, I like boats, and after all these years, I will love reducing my two-liter to a six pack. So why not?! Mayo Clinic's Arizona campus is participating in the 6th annual Tempe Dragon Boat Festival, March 28-29, 2009, at Tempe Town Lake, sponsored by the Arizona Dragon Boat Association. After two gold medal years, I heard we were edged out of first place last year by a local office of ING Direct, and I have a competitive spirit. So, with this team of diverse Mayo Clinic employees, I say, "we will see the others at the finish line and be ready to wrap their wounds!"

Albert and Mary Errato came to Mayo Clinic in February 2009 when Mary was facing another major operation. After a series of infections and complications, Mary's foot had been amputated in 2007 at an orthopedic hospital in New York City. She was scheduled for another operation, this time to possibly extend the amputation from mid-calf, below the knee to above the knee, when they decided to come to Mayo Clinic. According to Al, from the day they arrived, they knew things were different here. "All the doctors talked to each other, and more importantly to the patient!  They worked together to come up with a treatment plan for Mary. We started calling this Planet Mayo, because it feels like we're on a different planet here." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0U86sBPcxc

He made it! Scott MacIntyre, singer/songwriter/pianist from Scottsdale, Ariz., that is. Scott, 23, a contestant on the current season of American Idol, made the list of the 10 finalists on last night's program (Wednesday, March 18) when “America” voted him in. American Idol host Ryan Seacrest delivered the good news to a jubilant Scott by telling him he would be on the nationwide tour after the season’s end – news enthusiastically received by Scott and his family. Scott is admired by legions of fans, and especially by the Transplant team at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Tamiko Lyle lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, and came to Mayo Clinic in late February to seek answers to medical problems that had bothered her ...

Running a 26.2 mile marathon is a fulfilling experience for anyone. Doing so on the first anniversary of your breast cancer diagnosis makes it even more special. When 40-year old Kim Loving of St. Augustine, Florida learned she had estrogen positive HER-2 breast cancer on February 15, 2008, she realized she didn't have time to wallow in self pity, especially with a family including three children to care for. She had no family history of the disease. She ate well, exercised regularly and didn't smoke. Yet she became one of the more than 182,000 women in the U.S. diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2008.

Mayo Clinic leaders in information technology (IT), individualized medicine and cancer research yesterday recognized AT&T Foundation as a Principal Benefactor of Mayo Clinic and provided updates on Mayo's Enterprise Data Trust and its implications for advancements in disease diagnosis and treatment. Through its foundation, AT&T has contributed $3.4 million to support these efforts, including a $900,000 gift for Mayo Clinic IT infrastructure and $2.5 million for the Enterprise Data Trust, an essential component of Mayo’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.