Mayo Clinic

The kids enjoying some downtime together

Eating Breakfast at the condo

Gracie playing on Tyler's bed

Bryce at the Scottsdale Mayo Clinic

Bryce at the Phoenix Mayo Clinic

Mom and Bryce taking a selfie at the ENT office

The ENT let me see inside Bryce's nose and throat with his scope!

It was so awesome!  Our Bodies are amazing!

Islands Fine Burgers and Drinks

Island's Doorway

Our fun table

The boys waiting patiently for their 'Wave Burger'

Coloring in their menu coloring/activity books

The District shopping area

Phoenix Campus

'The Unicorn Horn' -our landmark for home base

On the corner of Scottsdale and Frank Lloyd Wright

We arrived safe and sound in Arizona and Bryce has had a filled schedule since we arrived. Today is Saturday and the clinic is closed, so we get to catch up on laundry and some downtime for the next two days. The last three days we have spent most of our day at the clinic. All but one of our appointments has been at the Scottsdale campus, the other was at the Phoenix campus.

Our first appointment was scheduled on Wednesday with Dr. Snyder, the lead doctor for Bryce's case. We were first checked in and then sent to pick up our itinerary with the schedulers. This itinerary literally lists all of your appointments at the Mayo Clinic and where each appointment is located and at what time. This itinerary is also subject to change and they print out a new one each time it does change- as the doctors order blood tests and imaging. If you are more than 7 minutes late, they will cancel your appointment. We haven't had that problem, but because of someone else being late for their appointment, we were able to get in earlier.

On Wednesday, Bryce was told to fast for his blood work, but due to the complexity of getting things authorized with our insurance and the tests they were running, he did not get his blood work done until 4:00. Tom and I had decided to fast with him and we prayed that we would be able to get all of Bryce's appointments scheduled within the time we would be here and that the doctors would find answers.

We have seen doctors in the following fields- Internal Medicine, Physical Medicine (they deal with bone and joint health), ENT (ear, nose and throat), GI (Gastroenterologist) and a Rheumatologist (RA). Originally our RA and GI appointments were scheduled for the first week of June, but we had some miracles happen and were able to get in early. For instance, the Rheumatologist had a meeting that was cancelled at the time we checked in for 'standby'. (Miracles are really happening!)

On Friday, we didn't have any appointments lined up, but Dr Snyder had suggested that we come in at 7:30 a.m. and get in line for standby for the GI and Rheumatologist. You cannot call them and put your name on the list, you must physically be there to check in. Matt had decided to come with us when I told him about the piano at the hospital and that it was for volunteer use. He had brought some music from home to play, just in case if he should see a piano anywhere.

We got to the clinic and checked in. Within minutes of checking in, we received a phone call stating that Dr Burdick, the GI doctor would be able to fit us in at 8:00. We spent an hour with him and he lined up a few tests for Bryce on Monday. They are checking for some type of sprue that may be causing problems with his absorption. Bryce is scheduled to have an endoscopy and will be swallowing a capsule with a camera that will record everything as it goes through his system. The one bad thing, is that he will need to do the prep as if he were doing a colonoscopy. After church on Sunday, we will be hanging out at home for the rest of the day.

After our GI appointment, Matt then went to play the piano while Bryce went to get another blood test done. We had several people come and compliment him and give him the thumbs up as they walked by. Behind Matt, a group of 6 people had gathered and were talking just across the hall. After Matt finished playing his songs, one lady approached us and asked us what song he had played first. I showed her the music to "If You Could Hie to Kolob" arranged by Marshall McDonald. She then told us that she was glued to her spot when he started playing and that she felt quite emotional and unable to move. It was a sweet reassurance that the Holy Ghost can work through music to touch others.

We have also seen several people at the clinic who are there every day like us. One sweet young lady, 25 years old, has definitely had a hard go with her health her whole life. She is supposed to be getting married this weekend in Alabama, but has been in the hospital with GI problems and just had to have an emergency appendectomy. We were able to talk to her and her mom for an hour before going to see one of our doctors. We are so blessed to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our life and the ability to share it with others.

We see miracles happening all around us and are so grateful for them. We arrived here just in time for the snowbirds to leave, which has freed up some time with the doctors. Last night we found our favorite restaurant here - Island's Fine Burgers and Drinks and we ordered our favorite burger.

I hope all is well at home and that you are all enjoying the weather. It's been 100* or hotter since we arrived. We will post more next week when we get results from his GI tests.