Today was my first day at the Mayo Clinic!! When I walked in, I was so excited! There were people everywhere, the hospital was massive, and it was such a pretty day outside. My dad surprised me by coming on this trip with me. This is the first time he has traveled since he got his LVAD in 2010! His nurses had to alert the hospitals on the way here that he would be driving through and Mayo happens to be a VAD clinic, so he was able to come! When we finally figured out where to go, we registered with three different people and then sent upstairs. I filled out some new paperwork then had my first appointment. The room we were in was really nice. It was twice the size of a typical room and even had a couch! We spoke with the doctor for an hour and a half and planned the rest of the visit. The doctor and I clashed on a few things, but overall it was great. After I left his office, I had a chest x-ray, lab work, two pulmonary tests to check my lung function, and a was sent home with a oximeter to monitor my oxygen levels and heart rate while I was sleeping. Unfortunately, they also want to collect two 24 hour urine samples… this should be fun. Instead of the original plan of being here one week, I will now be here two weeks. In that time, I am scheduled to see four specialists and have many more tests run. We finally left the clinic around 4:30, so we found a hotel and ate at a local place called the White Rabbit. It was such an awesome day, and we were able to get a beachfront hotel. Thank you for all of the prayers!