One little boy's family found the right diagnosis and care for him among the Mayo Clinic vascular anomalies (malformations) team.
David, Truitt's father: The day Truitt was born, he wasn't supposed to make it. He wasn't supposed to be here today. It was a fight for his life for weeks.
Leisel, Truitt's mother: Having a child with something that nobody knows what it is and nobody knows what to do about it, it's kind of scary, but also very lonely.
David: When faced with the medical challenges that we had with Truitt, it was an easy decision to come to the Mayo Clinic.
Megha Tollefson, M.D., Medical Director, Vascular Malformations Specialty Clinic: When we first saw Truitt, one of the first things that goes through my mind is what is the right diagnosis? And I wanted to work with my colleagues here in radiology and interventional radiology, and general pediatrics, plastic surgery, pulmonary, and agree upon what we might think is the right diagnosis for Truitt and then how to go on taking care of him. The vascular malformation specialty clinic here is really a group of specialties and a group of physicians and other healthcare team members. And what we're able to do by bringing everyone together is really deliver a package of care.
David: They have really done an amazing job of being the quarterback for our medical care. They recognize the investment that it takes for us to be able to come up here and have gone above and beyond to try and help make each trip as meaningful for Truitt as it possibly can be.
Dr. Tollefson: The appointment office is one of the biggest, biggest components of this. There is a lead scheduler in the appointment office that schedules all of our vascular malformations patients.
Leisel: By having multiple doctors reviewing his case all at once, it accomplishes what would take us months to accomplish someplace else in just a matter of a couple of days.
Dr. Tollefson: We have so many enthusiastic people that are a part of this clinic that are so knowledgeable, humble, motivated, diligent, and that is really dedicated to making people's lives better.
David: Truitt's care team at Mayo has not only demonstrated excellence from a medical standpoint, but shown us time and again how much they care. They've empowered us and equipped us to provide that care to him. They've taken into account what our family can actually do.
Leisel: I receive so much encouragement from Truitt's physicians when they say you're doing a great job. That goes leaps and bounds for my encouragement to help me know I'm doing what I need to do and I am caring for him the way I should be caring for him.