August 13, 2010 – Hi Everyone, here’s a note my mom wrote up about what the doctors at the Mayo have concluded based on the millions of tests they’ve had me do. Feeling better and happy to be going home!!!!!!!!! Take care, Adele.

Hello from Mayo,

We are being sprung from the Mayo Clinic….at least for awhile. Their conclusion from ten tests in two weeks is that Adele does have some kind of pelvic floor dysfunction, and she has gastroparesis (which is, in her case, slow emptying of the stomach and colon caused by nerve damage). In English, this means food doesn’t go through her entire digestive system fast enough.

They are hoping the pelvic floor disorder will be helped by a 2-week intensive physical therapy regimen back here at the Mayo later this fall. Because of Mayo’s schedule, they can’t do this right now so,needless to say, we are going home for the interim. Yeah!!!

The gastroparesis is trickier. They figured out that the muscles contract normally but the coordination, controlled by nerves, isn’t normal. What they don’t understand is whether the nerve damage is reversible, or what caused the nerve damage. There is a chance that the pelvic floor dysfunction is related to the gastroparesis, but we won’t know that until the pelvic floor
dysfunction is addressed by physical therapy. When she comes back for the physical therapy this fall, they will also do a test to make sure that the nerve damage is contained within the GI tract, and they will retest her gastroparesis.

In the meantime, her symptoms have greatly improved, and the doctor has prescribed some meds to help if the symptoms return. She has lots of energy and is eating normally, which is wonderful.

We have seen every attraction Rochester has to offer, and while it’s a nice place to visit, and the Mayo is an amazing facility, we are very happy to be heading home. We hope to be at Percy by tomorrow, in time for dinner.

Thank you all so much for all your thoughts and notes – it definitely helped us feel connected and loved – which is surely part of the healing process.

Love,
Lynne and Adele

ps. We have compiled a long list of things to do and not do in Rochester, and if you know of anyone coming here, we would be glad to share this up to date travel guide.