TheBanyanTree: Mayo Clinic

[Mark Funk]

I just got back from two days of tests at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.  I'll probably have surgery on the 19th or 20th of this month.  As is normal I have some trepidation about the upcoming surgery and I have endured much of the usual "hurry up and wait" routine of a hospital visit.
 
Never the less, I feel blessed to be going to Mayo and to have it close by, which makes travel to and from the clinic easier.  Unlike other hospitals and clinics I've visited, there is a special energy to this place.
 
Some of this energy comes from a kind of arrogance that Mayo is tops in the field in certain specialties and techniques.  There is a can do attitude, a feeling of "thinking outside the box," of coming up with unique solutions to problems normal medicine can't fix.
 
There is also the energy of a constant stream of patients who live close by and far away, of widely different cultures and backgrounds.  This is a melting pot of sorts and the fact that people come to Mayo from around the word is uplifting.
 
Despite these differences there is a feeling of shared humanity.  Many of the patients are facing the fragility of life and the possibility of death for the first time, yet they smile at each other, stop and talk when they get a chance, and even listen to or participate in the daily concerts provided in the Gonda building great hall.
 
This later is one of my favorite experiences.  They have a grand piano in the hall that anyone can play.  And there is a wonderful older woman that stops by during the lunch hour several days each week.  She plays an amazing myriad of songs "by ear"/from memory.  Sometimes others will participate by singing or playing some other instrument.  On Monday there were a couple of women singing and they eventually were joined by others who offered to "join the choir."  Some of them quickly moved from choir member to soloist and all shared their talents without expectation of reward.  As I told the pianist: they practice a special kind of medicine.  You could see that on the faces of the audience as they were carried away from tests, procedures, and the diseases of the body and were transported to a better place and time.
 
Finally, even their food service in the hospital is different.  You might think you are in a 4 star hotel as you can order off the menu and have food delivered anytime of the day or night.  At a time when you feel so vulnerable because all of these things are being done to you, its nice to feel you have control over what and when you eat.
 
I hope you never have to come to a place like Mayo, but if you do, rest assured it is a good place to be.
 
Mark