The Mayo Clinic experience and patient stories

Mayo Clinic neurologists and neurosurgeons provide expert, whole-person care for every patient. Learn more about how Mayo Clinic can provide exactly the care you need.

Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of satisfied Mayo Clinic patients.

  1. Parker1-16x9-1-1024x577.jpg

    Back to basketball after seizure surgery

    Study shows advanced imaging, expert review improve diagnosis of encephaloceles The sound of a basketball bouncing, the squeak of shoes on a fast break, the swish of the net — basketball has been a constant for Parker Shanks — from youth leagues to high school and college teams, to pickup games at his local gym. One day on the court in 2022, a seizure dropped 6-foot-8-inch Parker to the floor. Watch: Back to basketball after…

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    Comprehensive testing leads to targeted treatment for rare autoimmune encephalitis antibody

    What started as a persistent headache for Spencer Lodin soon devolved into slowed speech, seizures, and hallucinations, symptoms which stumped ER doctors into thinking he had meningitis or was suffering from psychosis. Finally, specialized testing at Mayo Clinic identified Spencer's condition as GFAP-IgG associated autoimmune encephalitis, which allowed for targeted treatment and a full recovery.   It was April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, when Spencer Lodin, 37, a mail carrier from the Twin…

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    POTS patient now working where she was diagnosed

    When Jenna Rose started experiencing frequent fainting episodes and other unusual symptoms, she put high school on pause and came to Mayo Clinic seeking answers. Nine years later, Jenna joined Mayo Clinic to help patients like her get on the path to healing.   Jan. 6, 2015, started like any other day for Jenna Rose, but it ended as anything but ordinary. A high-school junior at the time, Jenna was in the middle of art class…

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    Specialized testing helps reverse effects of stiff-person syndrome

    James and his wife Stephanie In July of 2018, James Kypuros woke up to find his toes clenched and claw-like, as if fisted. “It was a little bit weird walking this way, because you didn't have that balance of your toes extended,” recalls the 76-year-old Cedar Lake, Indiana resident. That summer marked the beginning of a host of debilitating symptoms that would defy significant treatment response until James came to Mayo Clinic, where specialized testing…

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    To sip a cola: Patsy Weber's goal for rehab from rare disease

    Patsy Weber's condition had healthcare professionals at her local clinic and a regional medical center stumped. In June 2021, she went from being so healthy that she had only taken a handful of sick days during her 40 years working at a bank in Sheldon, Iowa, to not being able to get out of bed. For about two weeks, Patsy had been coping with mysterious symptoms that included morning headaches that would disappear by the…

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    A graduation party reunion 15 years in the making

    When Cadence Rohrbaugh sent out invitations to her high school graduation party earlier this year, she tucked personal notes into a few special envelopes. "Dear Dr. Wirrell," Cadence wrote in one. "Thank you so much for helping me and my family through one of the most difficult times ever. Without your care, I would not be alive, healthy and graduating with honors." Fifteen years earlier, Elaine Wirrell, M.D., had been part of a team that cared…

  7. Joe-and-Sue-Mondloch16x9-1024x576.jpg

    Seeking, and finding, answers, comfort, and hope

    As someone affected by a rare, incurable disease, Joe Mondloch and his wife Sue are always on the lookout for new information. The autoimmune neurological condition Joe lives with has left him blind in one eye, physically disabled, and poses an ongoing threat for further damage. Called MOGAD, which stands for myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein associated-antibody disease, the rare, immune-mediated illness has been present in Joe’s life since February 2016, when, at the age of 55,…

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    My DBS experience

    By Jan Kary I was 60 at the time. Trying to take a photo. My hand was shaking so much I couldn’t hold my phone still to capture a picture. “I’m just nervous,” I thought to myself. The same experience happened again and again. “It’s just stress; I just need a good night’s sleep, and everything will be fine,” I concluded. Over the years, my hands began shaking so much in handling utensils, a glass…

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    Dad walks daughter down the aisle despite ALS

    Paul Wennmacher and his daughter Tabetha Paul Wennmacher calls his daughter Tabetha "my backbone." So it was tricky to keep a secret from her. His plan: Walk Tabetha down the aisle at her wedding. It wasn't an easy task. Paul, of Belvidere, Illinois, has a slowly progressive form of Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. But with the…

  10. Alexa-with-her-fiance-Renzo-Giancarlo-Chunga16x9-1024x576.jpg

    Reclaiming strength and independence after rare cancer diagnosis 

    The year was 2019. Alexa Lofaro was in her happy place, inside Nassau Veteran's Memorial Collesium in Uniondale, New York, watching the New York Islanders play hockey. As she made her way to her seat, another fan’s words caught her off-guard. “As I walked by him, he said, ‘Get home safely,’” Alexa says. “He thought I was drunk. I wasn’t drunk.” Instead, Alexa’s slow, cautious walk down the arena stairs was to compensate for the…

Nov. 22, 2024