Seeing the doctor is always stressful. It’s even more so when you’re from out of state (like me) or even out of country. It can be very overwhelming. I admin a group and we get a lot of questions from people asking what it’s like, where to stay, where to eat, what you can do in Rochester, etc. so I decided to make my own mini guide to Mayo. I’ve broken things up into categories for some semblance of organization but I highly recommend reading all of it.

Atmosphere

Full disclosure: I love the Mayo Clinic. It is actually a delight going there. They have truly mastered Patient centered care and it shows. The details (like actual art and sculptures, not just “hospital art” ) really help to create a calm and dare I say fun environment. Most hospitals are full of a stressful agitated energy that Mayo just doesn’t have. Sure there’s hustle and bustle and occasionally small chaos but it’s a calm chaos. As my mom says “It’s a place of healing, not just a hospital.” There truly is no hospital I’ve ever been to that is like it.

Places to stay

First thing you should know Mayo has subway tunnels under the streets. Some hotels are connected by subway tunnels to the clinic which is really convenient, unfortunately, those tend to be more expensive as well. Many hotels also offer shuttles to and from the clinic back to the hotel which is also very convenient. I stayed at the Best Western a couple years ago and it was nice and had a shuttle. If you have your own car I highly recommend staying at an Airbnb. That’s what we did this last time I went and it was great. Also I highly recommend buying a parking pass. They are way cheaper than not buying one and they never expire as long as you have the pass so you can use it year after year until you run out of days.

Places to eat

• Nupa – Mediterranean and Greek food like gyros, dolmades, greek salad, etc. I just ate here for the first time last week while I was there and it was wonderful! My gyro was overflowing, the service was great and they didn’t charge me for extra tzatziki sauce. All around win-win for me!
• Victoria’s – I can’t say enough good things about Victoria’s. I’m Italian so I don’t eat out Italian food – except here because it’s that good. I have had the spaghetti bolognese and the chicken rosa verde which I highly recommend! And their calamari is so good!
• Newt’s – Best burgers in Rochester! Also have wonderful nachos. (They layer the toppings so you never get any sad empty chips). It is a bar so maybe not perfect for small children but also not bad for kids. All around good bar food and they have Minnesota beers that you can try if that’s your thing.
• Chester’s – Amazing food and possibly the best service I have ever had (Seriously ask for Devin she’s the best). I have a bell pepper allergy and she was very helpful and understanding and knew the ingredients of everything on the menu. I got a quinoa healthy bowl this time but they also have amazing steak.
• Pannakoeken –  Breakfast with a Dutch flair! They serve all day but we went there for breakfast. I am super picky about my eggs and they got them right so A+ for eggs. If you go you have to get a pannakoeken (also known as a dutch baby) – a stuffed, oven-baked pancake. We got one with strawberries that came with brown sugar and sour cream to mix and make a fruit dip. It was honestly life-changing. 12/10 recommend getting a pannakoeken. Also their muffins looked wonderful as well but we were too full to get any.
• Caribou Coffee – Amazing coffee and really nice staff. It is a chain but it’s not nationwide. There is also a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts nearby if those are your thing. Also highly recommend either bringing a reusable cup or getting a fun one from the Mayo gift shop because they’ll charge you less to do a refill and because it’s good to be environmentally friendly.

Things to do (Rochester)

Rochester is pretty small but there are a surprising amount of things to do. Some of these are in Mayo so you can do them in between appointments if you have time/ need something to do

• There’s a little like “town square” out the back of the Gonda building. I believe it’s called Peace Plaza but I am not positive. Anyway, there are a bunch of things that happen out there like concerts, dance lessons, etc. There are little signs out there with a website you can go to to see all the events.
• Visit the hospital gift shop. I know it sounds kinda lame but they have some fun stuff like the rubber duck soap. It’s a bar of soap around a rubber duck and they are hilarious and really great for kids.
• Go look at the artwork! Mayo is part clinic, part art museum. There is art EVERYWHERE. They have big sculptures by Dale Chihuly that I could stare at for days. Seriously it’s everywhere so take a couple minutes to enjoy the art as you walk by.
• Nature! If it’s nice out you can check the many trails, lakes and other nature-y things. I’m not going to list them all but there’s a ton. Silver Lake, Douglas State Trail, Quarry Hill Park/ Nature Center, Chester Woods, Foster Arend Park. etc…
• Heritage House – Victorian-era house  (only open in Summer June-August) with tours and antiques
• Plummer House – Built in 1924, English Tudor mansion with 11 acres of landscaped grounds
• Minnesota Children’s Museum

Things to do (Minneapolis)

• Minnehaha Falls/Park – Beautiful falls and park right off the Mississippi River. There is also a little restaurant called the Sea Salt Eatery with local beers, fish, shrimp, that is amazing. They also have a little ice cream shop in the back. I high;y recommend the Nicollet Drive Pothole (no that’s not a joke it’s actually the name of an ice cream)
• Lock and Dam #1 of the Mississippi River – Beautiful views of the river and a self-guided tour of the lock and dam where you can get really close and see how it works. Very cool! My mom and I spent like an hour here.
• Mall of America – We didn’t go here because my mom doesn’t like crowds but it is a fun touristy thing that everyone will ask you if you went. There are so many things to do here! There’s an aquarium, water park, flight simulator and more just to name a few.
• Bakken Museum – A museum of electricity featuring Frankenstein! It was also originally sponsored by Medtronic. They sadly are not open on Mondays so we didn’t get to go but I really wanted to.
• Walker Art Center
• Minneapolis Sculpture Garden featuring the classic “Spoonbridge and Cherry” sculpture
• There’s also a bunch of other parks, lakes and other nature-y things to do here as well.

Miscellaneous Things

• If you get blood drawn in Peds you get a rubber duck. Don’t let them skimp out on the duck. I’m still a bit salty that I was denied a duck because I’m an “adult” now and they don’t have them down in the adult section. Also, ask for stickers if you want one. I got a Pua (the pig from Moana) sticker after my echo and wore it proudly.
• Navigating Mayo is very confusing but the people are very nice and are more than happy to help with directions or anything else you need. One day we forgot our paperwork and the people at the information desk printed it right out for us.
• If you are in a hurry, you can pull into the drop off at the Gonda Building and the parking guys will take Holter Monitors and things you need to drop off. It was very nice of them to do this for me when I was there last week.

These are just a few things I have learned over the years going to the Mayo Clinic. Hopefully, this information will be helpful to you and can put your mind at ease (even if it’s only about where to get good food for dinner). Good luck and enjoy Rochester!

My heart breaks every time that I hear of a child dying suddenly from an undetected heart condition. How does one recover from knowing that if a diagnosis was made, their child may be with them today?

I don’t have that answer, but unbelievably found myself in that same nightmare July 18, 2011. Our seemingly healthy sports-loving 12 year old son, Josh, collapsed and died. One moment he was smiling and enjoying himself with his friends and brothers at a soccer camp, and the next he was face down on the turf.

How does a “healthy” athletic child just die?  As hindsight is 20/20, my guilt-tinged views, as a RN and Josh’s Mom, on his untimely death is like so many other child-victims of sudden cardiac arrest: We failed him.

Don’t get me wrong, Josh’s Dad and I took him and his siblings to their well-child visits and pre-participation sports physicals. We hounded him to eat healthy foods, brush his teeth, shower, and clean his nails (which in Josh’s case were almost always filthy because he loved playing outside) like any other parent.

But, like the doctors we brought him to, we explained-away his symptoms under the false belief that heart conditions in children almost never happen. Josh never looked sick. Over time, he occasionally complained of shortness of breath. Athletes get short of breath all the time. Maybe it’s exercise induced asthma? Let’s try an inhaler. He told me he had a pain in his chest maybe twice, and again, over time, and it was fleeting. I remember having chest pain on an off as a child. Growing pains? “Mom, I’m okay!”.

But, he wasn’t okay. He was dead.

Joshua Daniel “Moose” Thibodeau was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) by autopsy and genetic tests. He died two months into his 12^th year doing what he loved most, playing soccer.

We learned that HCM affects 1/500 people. Could Josh’s four siblings and us, his parents, have this too?

Thankfully, no one else was diagnosed with HCM. However, incredulously, through an electrocardiogram (ECG) and genetic testing, Josh’s younger brother, Adam, was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome, a different, potentially fatal heart condition affecting 1/2000 people. Both of our boys had spontaneous mutations, or de novo, as those in the know call it. These things have to start somewhere, I suppose.

Today, Adam’s LQTS, type 2, is managed with beta blocker medication. He plays high school soccer with time restrictions and we always have an automated external defibrillator (AED) with us during practices and games. I’d be lying if I said that I don’t worry about him, but because he got the chance to be diagnosed (even under horrific circumstances) and is followed by stellar doctors, Adam has the best opportunity to lead an amazing and long life.

I will always wonder if Adam’s heart condition would have been diagnosed without his brother dying. I also wonder why it is acceptable in this day and age to rely on 200 year old “technology”, a stethoscope, to be the gold standard in routinely checking children’s hearts. A five minute ECG would be so much more accurate in diagnosing conditions like HCM and LQTS that can cause sudden cardiac death.

Please learn the warning signs and symptoms of a heart condition (fainting or seizure during or after physical activity, fainting or seizure resulting from emotional excitement, emotional distress, or startle, chest pain or discomfort/ racing heartbeat, unexplained fainting or seizures, family history of heart disease, unusual shortness of breath, unusual fatigue/tiredness, dizziness/ lightheadedness during or after physical activity, family history of unexpected sudden death during physical activity or during a seizure, or any other unexplained sudden death of an otherwise healthy family member under the age of 50)  because you truly never know who will be affected. Please use our boys’ stories as examples of why every child deserves to get an ECG. Please be a heart-health advocate for the child(ren) you love. https://parentheartwatch.org/learnmore/ 

Not unlike my boys, my heart will forever be broken.

Deb O’Brien-Thibodeau

Josh’s Mom and Director of The Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation http://joshthibodeauhelpinghearts.com/
joshthhf@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/TheJoshThibodeauHelpingHeartsFoundation/
Proud member of Parent Heart Watch https://parentheartwatch.org/
Proud member of Screen Across America http://www.screenacrossamerica.org/
Today Show: Parents unite to combat sudden cardiac arrest among young athletes
_{https://www.today.com/video/parents-unite-to-combat-sudden-cardiac-arrest-among-young-athletes-793007171510?cid=eml_onsite}