Four generations rely on Mayo
Family tradition for North Dakota family
To the Krapp and Strobel families, Mayo Clinic care is a family tradition passed through four generations. Unlike many traditions, however, this one began with the younger generation.
Daughter: Ear surgery
Amber Strobel moved from North Dakota to Rochester, Minn., five years ago. She became a Mayo employee, then a patient, and she spread the word to friends back home. "I was so impressed with how quickly things moved. The speed of access and superior treatment was quickly recognized by my family and friends back home," she says of her ear surgery.
Father: Wrist surgery
Soon after her Mayo experience, Strobel encouraged her father, Oren Krapp, to visit Mayo for a second opinion on his wrist injury. Providers at other facilities told Krapp he'd need his wrists fused, but after two surgeries at Mayo Clinic, his wrists remain mobile today.
Mother: Knee replacement surgery
Last year, Strobel's mother, Connie Krapp, had double partial knee replacement at another facility. Immediately after the surgery, it became obvious that the left knee was misaligned, and Krapp consulted Mayo Clinic where she received another knee replacement. "I am so glad I came to Mayo," Connie Krapp says. "My knee is going to be just fine. The 'M' in Mayo stands for 'miracles.'"
Grandfather: Cardiac care
Then Amber Strobel's grandfather, Merle Allen, began to experience failing health, and received a diagnosis of Crohn's disease at another facility.
"It would take all his energy just to stay awake for more than an hour or two," says his daughter, Connie Krapp. "So certain was he that he was living his last days that he instructed us to ensure that his affairs were all in order and his last wishes were known."
"We had little hope there was any way he was going to recuperate," says Strobel. "Each day we could see one more piece of him crumble."
Desperate for help, the family sent Allen to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion in March 2011. Within a few days, Mayo physicians determined Allen did not suffer from Crohn's disease, as his previous providers had diagnosed, but from a cardiac condition. His Mayo physicians weaned him off of prior medicines and began treating his cardiac issues.
"Mayo worked another miracle," says Connie Krapp. "They gave him back his life."
Twin boys: Delivered at Mayo
When he believed he would not survive, Merle Allen had one wish: to see his twin great-grandchildren born safely to his granddaughter and her husband.
True to his wish, Amber Strobel delivered two healthy baby boys, Maddox and Kellan, at Rochester Methodist Hospital in Rochester last June. "There were a few complications along the way," she says, "but each and every Mayo provider involved in our care took extra measures to be sure we were all healthy."
"Mayo offered the extra effort: the extra time, the extra reassurance, the extra smile — both during the pregnancy and during the twins' short hospital stay," Strobel says.
The family credits Mayo Clinic for their health and well-being. "It's a snowball effect," says Strobel, explaining how her successful surgery at Mayo prompted her family to follow her to Mayo.
"News of outstanding care and service travels quickly. We would not trust our care to anyone else now," she says.
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