United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Well, we finally took the plunge and scheduled a visit to Mayo. I am in many ways very relieved, but also a little nervous about out trip as I feel like this will be the "final say" in my husband's prognosis. But I know that having a realistic understanding of the extent of his injury will ultimately be a good thing. Anyway, we will be there the second week of January and I'm trying to sort out flights, hotels etc. I found a bunch of info on the message boards about hotels so we're set there. Now I'm trying to figure out where we should fly in to, which comes down mostly to cost for us. So I'm wondering if we would need a rental car if we flew into Rochester. It seems like there are shuttles from the airport to the clinic and the clinic to the hotel- are they convienent enough to rely on? Are there restaurants within walking distance? If everything is accessible without a car then I think it would be cheaper for us to fly right into Rochester rather than into Minneapolis and renting a car to drive. Thanks in advance!

Hello,

We too are making the "plunge" to go to Mayo. My husband is scheduled for 12/12. Fortunately, we only live 3 hours away & prior to his injury had spent quite a bit of time in the Rochester area, doing the thing he loved & ultimately got him hurt...riding Motocross! Anyway, there does seem to be quite a few restaurants in the downtown area, so you probably could walk. One concern though would be the cold snowy weather, if you have to walk outside, but much seems to be connected by skyways too, so you'd probably be ok. Good Luck!

My daughter and I have flown from Harrisburg PA right into Rochester MN 5 times now and none of those times did we need a rental car. We've stayed at the Kahler Inn and Suites, The Kahler Grand, and The Staybridge Suites. They have shuttles from the Rochester airport to most hotels and shuttles that run from the hotels to all the medical facilities plus lots of cabs. The shuttle from the airport costs $11.50 per person but the shuttles to the medical facilities are free. The underground walkway/subway is very convenient for walking. When we were there during the cold weather we never had to go out into the cold air! We even took the shuttle to the Mall a couple of times.

Thanks so much to both of you for the info... that makes our decision much easier. Good luck to you husband at his appointment next week, Lori. My husband was also hurt in a dirt biking accident...darned things.

We too stayed at the Kahler Inn and suites. They have a restaurant right there. There's also a sandwich shop attached. Then there are many places using the tunnels from the Mayo. If you stay at one of the hotels attached by the Subway then there is really no reason that you would have to go outside. We have seen the shuttle but haven't used it yet. However I think when I had looked at the schedule from one place it ran about every 15 mins. I did plan to use it last time we were there but Dustin wanted to drive in and after trying to park I wished we had taken the shuttle.
I think you will be pleased that you chose to get an opinion from the dr's at the Mayo. Good Luck!!
Sue

Hi...good luck to you and your husband. I just returned from my surgery at mayo. I cannot say enough good things about dr.s Shin, Bishop and Spinner as well as their team and the entire staff at the mayo clinic. Every person we came into contact with was great. As for logistics, we stayed at the Marriott and there are a bunch of restaurants connected through the subway level. We found a couple great one'd that weren't but in my opinion they were worth the walk...City Cafe and Redwood Inn. We flew in and out of minneapolis. we considered Rochester but smaller airports usually close first in bad weather. We rented a car but i think there is a shuttle from minneapolis to rochester. Whatever you decide to do about travel, know that you have made a wonderful decision in going to the mayo clinic. I will be forever grateful to those doctors!
best of luck,
Robin

For food, there are fast food type places in the subway level under the Mayo or you can take a walk outside. There is a resturant my mom and I went to when I was there for surgery in Mayo if I remember right it is called the Canadian Honker, its really good! I reccommend dessert, lol That resturant is between St. Mary's and the Mayo building.

Otherwise there are the underground food places like Subway and Quiznos and an icecream shop, (spacing the name)

Every thing is with in walking distance but do remember its Minnesota winter so dress warm! Layers are a good thing! There is a shuttle that goes to most of the hotels to the clinic so I would think you should be able to get by just fine without a car. When I was there for a checkup and an EMG in October I drove down from Duluth, MN and parked my car. I left it parked until I left that night. Never needed it al all but then it was warmer then.

Good luck!!! I hope you get good news from the Mayo, they have some great doctors down there!
Hugs,
Amy 20 years old ROBPI from MN

My experience was similar to srhykerd's Easy to get from Minneapolis to Rochester by shuttle, Kahler and other hotels very close to Mayo are good and restaurants are easy to find. Shuttles are great. Not quite as good at St. Mary's area, but still OK. Make sure you have Doctor at home to take care of you when you get home after surgery. We had to find new doctors at out of state parents house while recovering from surgery, and it was very hard - almost impossible. Good luck.