Mother Mayo

“Mother may I?”

         “Yes, you may.”

One of my favorite games as a child was Mother May I? Anytime friends came over, or there was a neighborhood block party (and we were done playing wiffleball and waiting for it to get dark for capture the flag) we would play Mother May I? Some favorites were:  Fly like an airplane three times. Take ten baby steps. Hop like a bunny five times. Do the scissor four times.

I hadn’t recalled those sweet memories for quite awhile. At least not until two days ago...

Due to the familiar uncertainty of my last appointments at the med center, I was recommended by many to go to Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I’ll be honest. I didn’t’ want to go at first. Not at all. I can say now, I am incredibly happy that I did! The professionalism, punctual perfection of their system, attention to every detail, and true compassion of every single person we came in contact with was remarkable.

My first appointment was with the Endocrinology department. Specifically, thyroid. And, yes. There was an entire floor devoted to endo, and moreover there was a specific thyroid team in one area. When my first doctor walked in the door she said, “I am Dr. Dean and this is my thyroid team.” In walked 4 other medical professionals! Incredible. And a little overwhelming at first. After we reviewed my entire past year and records, she announced, “Alright. You’re here because you want the Mother Mayo treatment, correct? Well let’s get started and figure all this out.” Hence why I reminisced about some of my favorite summer days and nights as a child—when life was as easy as the cool breeze and your only worry was what team you would get picked to be on in flag football. If only I could go back!

But ok, back to reality. I’ll skip over a bunch of details. The next few things I did though were lots of blood draws. An ultrasound was scheduled. I had an appointment with the entire Pulmonology team reviewing my thymus and different breathing problems I’ve been having the past few months. Then a CT scan was scheduled along with pulmonary function tests. Mother Mayo wanted me to stay for an entire week of tests and scans. However, that was not ideal with our schedule. So we compromised with what was most important at the current moment and would do more things later if needed.

Which leads me to the next part, my results. The plan was that if all initial tests looked alright, then we would head home Tuesday after my morning appointments. That didn’t sound bad at all, until I continued to wake up with a migraine. For the sixth day in a row! I also had a bunch of other awful things happening while we were there. Tuesday started to seem like forever! Unfortunately all of that was a result of my pharmacy giving me the wrong dose of one of my meds last week. My poor mother. She got to witness a lot of frustration and hurting on my part. I’ve said it before and I will say it til my last day, my beautiful mother is a Saint on this Earth! And I debated sharing this, but one night I was in so much pain, she just cuddled with me and scratched my back until we both fell asleep. It was the only thing that finally helped. I love you, mom!

Finally we woke up and it was Tuesday morning. Dr. Dean had asked that we be taken to a different room. (Which I instantly knew is not something you want to hear as a patient.) She walked in immediately and said, “We’ve got a lot of stuff going on here. And a lot to figure out. Let’s just start at the top and work our way through.” Yikes. Also not something you want to hear! Long story short, one of my most important lab numbers shot up from 0.2 in January to 24.0 that day. It’s the value that indicates that there is cancer somewhere. She was unhappy though because it’s possible my medicine mess-up flawed the results. (But that med has a 24 hour half life and I stopped taking it last Friday morning…) So. We enter round 103 of not having a definite answer. Again. All this patience has to be loading up my suitcase full of virtues!

The game plan. Wait three months and re-do labs. Then if they are still high, she said she would instantly want me in the OR to get my thymus out. Thinking the enlargement is because of the cancer. (Side note:  the enlargement was also seen on their CT scan. All of my care team is unsure of why. There are a few possibilities.) She went on to say that the cardiothoracic surgeon she would want to do the surgery is booked out for the next year. But she would do everything in her power (which seemed to be a lot!) to get me in ASAP. However, the problem I said right away with that plan is that I start PA school at the end of July. Timing just wouldn’t work to get the labs done, book myself in the OR, and recover for a month after surgery. She agreed that wouldn’t work and I asked if we could do the lab tests in two months instead? That is now the plan. If they come back normal, we will monitor my thyroid and the nodules they found on my ultrasound. If it comes back bad, we go in with our shields, armor, and weapons ready to fight.

Alright. I think I covered the most important things. I am going to attach a picture to this blog because we were in a big Minnesota blizzard while we were there and I took a cool picture of the famous “Mayo Clinic” sign on the Gonda building while we were sitting at Starbucks for a little break. For some reason the snow up there was beautiful compared to home. And maybe that was because Mayo has an entire world underneath all of their buildings connecting to hotels and a subway system that can take you all over. You never have to step foot outside! Just another reason that place is truly one of a kind.

My final note is a little inspiration I heard today. I oftentimes listen to the local Christian radio station. And today the radio host shared a story:  a famous Christian singer shared on twitter that he “#followsjesusbecause in every circumstance He shares a little surprise.” And that hit home. In a lot of ways. None of us are in control. So when our “plan” doesn’t work out the way we had hoped, we have to adjust. Just like the Welcome to Holland poem I shared in an early blog. And those situations can be upsetting, “wrong” in our minds, and create a mess. But, that is what God has intended. And it is so true, He always always gives us the grace and surprises we need to keep on His path and to fulfill His remarkable plan for our lives.

So. Smile. Hope. Trust. Adjust. And of course, Pray.