Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

This morning Susan and I are back in familiar territory. We are sitting in the cafeteria of the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, looking out at Florida sunshine, sago palms and pittosporum hedges, much like the landscaping at our house in Lake Mary. We decided to make the trip to Mayo earlier this week after talking with several friends and doctors about Susan’s progress and what would be best for her.

Susan is receiving excellent care from a psychiatric clinic in Athens. They have helped her cope with the anxiety and physical symptoms and begun adjusting her medications. Still, the anxiety and weakness persist. The psych people are not trained to answer questions about the possible physical sources of the problem. It’s clear that anxiety is a problem, but why is it there? Why did it suddenly present itself when it did? Conversion disorder is a diagnosis of exclusion, which means that all other possible causes must be ruled out first. That hasn’t happened yet, and is why we are now at Mayo this morning.

Mayo has a worldwide reputation for diagnosis. Unlike most clinics, they will consult among specialties to find the underlying cause. We hope to leave Mayo with either a physical diagnosis or with the knowledge that no such diagnosis is possible.

Susan will visit with an internal medicine doctor today. We expect to be back next week for more tests and evaluation.

The University of Georgia has been incredibly supportive. Susan has been helped by her colleagues so she can take the time to be here, and our UGA medical insurance covers our visits to Mayo. North Georgia Bank is allowing me to work remotely while here. Many, many friends and co-workers are praying for us. We are truly blessed.