Archive for June 2022

There are times when the hustle and bustle in the Nathan Landow Atrium of the Gonda Building at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, comes to a standstill. An audible hush gives way to a melody of lush chords and notes wafting from the grand piano. Mayo Clinic’s own Genaida Benson, a nurse in radiology is…

For many patients seeking kidney transplant, obesity is a barrier. Body mass index (BMI) is a traditional criterion for transplant, and a large portion of potential kidney transplant recipients currently have BMIs above the cutoff. Two physicians at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, are paving the way to transplant for patients with higher BMIs. Patients,…

Editors Note: This story was originally published in Mayo Clinic Magazine. A first responder pronounced Maurice Orange dead. Maurice’s body lay crumpled on the hot asphalt in San Diego. His prized Gold Wing 1800 motorcycle wrecked nearby. His fiancée, Cheri, knew something was wrong that afternoon — Aug. 14, 2020. She got a call that…

At 34, Steven Graham has already beaten the odds. Born with a heart defect, doctors predicted that he would not live past 30. But over the years and a series of pacemakers, his heart was giving out, and he needed a transplant. Complicating matters, Steven’s declining cardiac muscle was also damaging his lungs. His physicians…

Editor’s note: This story is written by Robert Sobotka, 75. In 2016, he was diagnosed with a mass on pancreas and multiple tumors in his liver. Walking up a steep and long hill in the woods behind our house in Woodstock, Georgia, I notice that I’m not as short-of-breath as I used to be —…

More than 3.6 million people in the U.S. are living with limb loss, according to the Amputee Coalition. Most are lower limb amputations resulting from diabetes, trauma and cancer. In March 1983, Mary Shalz was 18 years old when a diagnosis of bone cancer changed how she walked. “That was when they did the above-knee amputation,” says…

Eric and Micayla Ryan were experienced parents. They had three children already and thought this ultrasound would be as routine as the ones that had come before. They knew what to expect. Or so they thought. But instead of reassurance, this ultrasound revealed a problem: cysts on the kidneys of the Goodhue, Minnesota, couple’s fourth…

Sophisticated laboratory testing solved a medical riddle and finally got Jori Pearson back on his feet, doing what he loves. Jori Pearson was a 39-year-old homebuilding contractor with a passion for golf and fishing when he began feeling numbness in his hands. That was in 2013. And those early symptoms signaled the start of a…

Around the 15th of every month, Christin Gigstad and Tina Haug think of each other. They pick up their phones and text. Even if they’ve already talked that week, they want to check in. It’s an important date for them, one that no one else can fully understand. Four years ago, Christin and Tina were…

Belinda Purdy isn’t the type of person who enjoys sitting on the sidelines. She and her family love to travel, swim, eat out and spend time outdoors. She’s used to being on her feet all day and loves to walk 3 or 4 miles per day. But in spring 2020, Belinda felt like she was…