Stories – Patient Spotlight

CT scans and hiatal/abdominal ultrasounds could not uncover why, whenever he ate steak, Joseph Ducaji experienced severe stomach problems, itchy hives, chills, and nausea. It took specialized testing from Mayo Clinic to unlock a little-known condition caused by a tick bite (and, no, it’s not Lyme disease).

It’s been more than three years since a team of specialists and genetic testing by Mayo Clinic Laboratories helped pinpoint the cause of Alexa Lofaro’s failing health. And today, she says she continues to feel “so much better” than she did when she first came to Mayo Clinic.

Misdiagnosed with acromegaly, a disease marked by too much growth hormone, and plagued by a host of mysterious health problems from unnecessary medications, Kelly DuBois finally found answers after pharmacogenomic testing from Mayo Clinic Laboratories put her on a path toward healing.

As someone affected by chronic liver disease, Susan Parrott knows how it feels to live in uncertainty. But every few months, the anxiety and doubt that shadow her life fade when Mayo Clinic Laboratories test results confirm her condition is in check and she can continue living life on her own terms.

After what looked like a blemish turned out to be angiosarcoma, a rare, life-threatening cancer of the blood vessels, Alison O'Neill was put on an aggressive treatment plan and regenerative approach to healing made possible by the pathologist who first diagnosed her cancer.

For Billy Dowell Jr., a competitive golfer, focus, determination, and course correction are essential to excelling at the sport. These skills, along with routine follow-up care and testing, are also important to navigating a life impacted by multiple chronic autoimmune conditions.

Ed Garber spent months in physical and neurological decline while a cohort of care providers and specialists searched for the root cause of his symptoms. That search for answers ended after testing by Mayo Clinic Laboratories gave them the confirmatory diagnosis they needed.

Since overcoming a life-threatening diagnosis five years ago, Jim Smith has embraced life. But each time he travels to Mayo Clinic for follow-up laboratory testing, a well of emotions rises up to remind him of life’s fragility. Thankfully, through streamlined, accurate testing and top-notch clinical care, those feelings are generally short-lived.

Two years ago, when 29-year-old Meckenzie Tinaglia experienced a series of seizure-like events shortly after a cardiac ablation procedure, she knew her heart was to blame. Her local providers, however, weren’t convinced. If not for Mayo Clinic remote cardiac monitoring and the data it provided about Meckenzie’s potentially fatal arrythmia, the busy wife and young mother might not have survived.

Kenneth Hobby assumed his fever, fatigue, and aching pains in May 2018 were from another bout of malaria. He was on one of his frequent visits to Zambia in southern Africa, where the mosquito-borne parasite is common. But anti-malaria drugs didn't help, and soon Kenneth had such disabling pain that he could barely walk.

At just 24-years-old Anya Magnuson has survived not just one but two close encounters with death. Focused, determined, and intent on experiencing life to its fullest, Anya never gave up. Nor did the multidisciplinary Mayo Clinic care team who worked tirelessly to heal her.

As a two-time brain tumor survivor, Alex Kraatz has been through more harrowing medical experiences in his 34 years than most people face in a lifetime. But Alex’s fighting spirit, coupled with precision laboratory testing and cutting-edge treatments, have propelled him forward, keeping him hopeful despite the odds.

Working together, Mayo Clinic laboratory medicine specialists and clinicians helped Elyn Simmons get her life back — and welcome two new lives to the world.