Gerard Kenneally, patient: Before I had my surgery, I was quite restricted in what I could do. I would get asthma-like symptoms and difficulty breathing. I would get out of breath literally, sometimes getting out of the car. I was diagnosed with hypertropic cardiomyopathy here in Ireland, but wasn't offered any treatment other than some drug treatment.
Gosia G. Wamil, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate consultant — cardiology, Mayo Clinic in London: So from my first consultations and meeting with Mr. Kenneally, it became very clear. He was very curious. He wanted to understand his diagnosis and he wanted to explore options of definitive treatment.
Annamae Kenneally, patient's daughter: I remember when he went to the Mayo Clinic in London and had testing done there and met with the doctors there. Within a day, he was able to tell us really what they found was going on.
Gosia G. Wamil, M.D., Ph.D.: In Mr. Kenneally's case, we required a multidisciplinary approach to his management. We then made a plan for moving towards the surgical when there is a need for treatment that is not available in London, then we transfer seamlessly to the U.S.
Hartzell V. Schaff, M.D., cardiovascular surgeon, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, United States: Like many patients that enter the clinic now, the first meeting was by video conference that was set up through the Mayo Clinic office in London.
Gerard Kenneally: It's been seven or eight months now since the surgery. And yeah, I'm feeling much, much better. Don't suffer any of the symptoms I had previously.
Clare Kenneally, patient's wife: I would recommend the Mayo Clinic to others because I feel they specialize in certain things and they do a lot of it. So they're good at it. They're at the forefront of anything that's different or new, or difficult.
Gosia G. Wamil, M.D., Ph.D.: Each year we see over a million patients from 140 countries.
Hartzell V. Schaff, M.D.: I think if you're in the UK and you want a second opinion, the Mayo Clinic office in London, it's absolutely the best place to go because the person that has access to all of the expertise, over 4,000 specialists. So when you get a consultation in London, you're not getting just that person's experience, but you'll get the shared experience of the larger Mayo Clinic system.