Things have settled down now. I had just a single day of treatment on Monday (half the usual dose) with the usual side effects, and rest period to get over it.
Looking back on my visit to the Mayo Clinic, I came away feeling perhaps it was a bit of a waste. It's strange - you go to a place like that with an expectation that they will find something very bad, and have the ability to fix it. Then after all the the effort, pain, and expense, and all they do is confirm something you already know! A tinge of disappointment. Yes, relief as well that there is nothing really serious or terminal. Together with that, is the sinking feeling that now I really do have to move to acceptance of my condition of multifocal motor neuropathy, and plan to deal with it for the rest of my life.
From a medical perspective, the Mayo is very impressive. The trip and the outcome has helped me reflect on the level of care I have been receiving until now. If the Mayo ranks a 10/10, then I would say that the medical resources and care available here in Melbourne, Australia probably ranks about 8/10 (my neurologist concurs with my assessment, although he would hardly be one to argue such a point). I am very fortunate to have access to excellent doctors (my neurologist did time at Mayo, and lots of other Australian doctors do same), and the public health system means that my IVIg is free.
On that basis, someone like me going to the Mayo for an assessment is only of moderately incremental value. If I lived in a small town in the US that didn't have such resources, I would have grounds to be less trustful of my diagnosis, and therefore a trip to a major centre would be easier to justify.
Of course this is all with 20/20 hindsight. Still, yet another useful lesson. Time (and quite a long time) will tell if they treatment approach suggested at the Mayo proves to be valuable.
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