Thanks for the advice. I did call Mayo and got the Dr's RN and withing 3 hour period the DR from Mayo called me and she then faxed everything to my home cardiologist. I asked her how she thought this should be treated her reply was "they got the blood tests back and since I have no fever, chills she really thinks it is thrombus (which is blood clots) and another TEE should be done in 6 weeks after upping my INR. unless I have symptoms. So I feel better.
I did visit the cleveland clinic. In spite of the business, I did find the support staff supportive. I was much more impressed by the RN in charge, than the doctor. I cant say for certain, but the folks in cleveland seem to have made a connection between patient safety and who they retain to work there. Not sure this is the case for you, at least locally. So get some help.
Hi I read your earlier post as well. Some ideas for you:
1. you might be up against an unqualified scheduler, or some person who lacks medical training and any kind of perspective (good help can be hard to find). You can try to speak with the RN at the office. You can ask for assistance from an alternate RN if one RN also lacks perspective. You can ask to leave a message with your doctor to call back. You can ask your doctor at Mayo for some advice. You can ask the people at Mayo to contact your doctor and alert him to any serious matter in your case. You can call your doctor's associates and ask to speak with them.
2. you might need a better doctor. This doctor might be good, but any skill he has is obviously being overshadowed by office issues. A good network surrounding the doctor can be as important as the doctor himself (as you can see). If you cant get around it, you could move on. You might be able to get by with a garden variety board certified doctor who has more time available to help you, and a caring office environment.
3. Last I checked, you could get an appointment at the cleveland clinic, possibly same day, or within one week. You could also get a second opinion from the cleveland clinic without visiting. The fee was reasonable, last I checked.
BTW, I have read in the past that Mayo uses TEE during some procedures to aid understanding of such issues. I assume they were aware of the problem when they discharged you. It is too bad that somebody didn't spend more time with you giving you some perspective on this situation. You could call the people Mayo (i.e. an RN or doctor that you worked with while you were there). A good RN is generally more accessible, and will know how to get something in front of the doctor.