Young Teagan Waletzko was spending a lot of time in the hospital. Far more than she cared for. But it was the only way Teagan, then 3, could see her new baby brother, Isaac, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect. "Finding ways to keep our family together and keep some normalcy was challenging when we needed to spend lots of waking hours at the hospital," mom Michelle Waletzko tells us. "We brought her with us as much as we could, but she got bored easily." [...]

Throughout the course of their marriage, Phyllis Helgeson worked hand in hand with her husband on their farm near the Minnesota-Iowa border. "I milked and fed cows, fed chickens, fed horses, put up and mended fences, drove tractors, mowed the lawn and did just about anything else you can think of," Phyllis tells us. With one exception. "I've never driven a combine. That's the only thing I didn't do around the farm." [...]

"For it is in giving that we receive." Saint Francis of Assisi

  Jon Prebeck got a sobering look at his mother-in-law's life with kidney disease when she came to stay with Jon and his wife. That's when he decided to see if he could help. [...]

Medical students from Mayo Clinic in Arizona attended a four-day course outside of their usual curriculum that was created to help them cope with the challenges of being a student and a care provider. [...]

"Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are." Mother Teresa

Scott St. Michel was in need of a liver transplant, but extra weight and the severity of his situation kept him off of the wait list — until surgeon Julie Heimbach, M.D., offered another option. [...]

Hearing that there was a shortage of buglers to play taps at military funerals, Mark Wentz learned the instrument so he can honor vets with the traditional bugle call. [...]

"The moon gives you light, and the bugles and the drums give you music, and my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans, my heart gives you love." Walt Whitman

Treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma had been successful for Tanis Milicevic, who was in remission for years. But when her cancer returned, she turned to Mayo and a new, individualized cell-based therapy. [...]

Although Kadie Neuharth was 1,400 miles away, the Corn Palace in her hometown of Mitchell, South Dakota, glowed red as a sign of love for Kadie as she received a heart transplant. [...]

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." George A. Moore

Robert Fleming recently donated the Olympic gold medal and ring he'd received in 1980 as a member of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Committee. The items are now on display in Mayo's Heritage Hall. [...]

Mayo researcher Keith Knutson, Ph.D., is working with colleagues on several vaccines that could not only prevent cancer from recurring, but perhaps keep it from developing in the first place. [...]

"Great moments are born from great opportunities." Herb Brooks

Despite its reputation, there is more to "Frankenstein” than meets the eye. Mayo staff and the Guthrie Theatre joined forces to examine how the 200-year-old tale is really a story about what it means to be human. [...]

In the early days of Mayo Clinic, before film and video were readily available, Mayo's art department created thousands of lifelike wax sculptures to use for medical education. [...]

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Wayne Dyer

Dr. Brandon Lane Phillips isn't just a pediatric cardiologist. He's also a congenital heart disease survivor whose patient experience at Mayo inspired him to return for a pediatric cardiology fellowship. [...]

For more than 40 years, hand surgeon Allen Bishop, M.D., has been making music with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. He now also takes his talents all over the world to play benefit concerts with other physicians. [...]

"Unity is strength … when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." Mattie Stepanek

Tim Fairclough's wait for a lung transplant meant months in the hospital, where he experienced caring and compassion from staff at all levels — and saw his employer through new eyes. [...]

Science-minded high school students in Florida are getting real-world experience as researchers thanks to a new program offered by Mayo Clinic's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences [...]

"There is nothing more wonderful than being a scientist, nowhere I would rather be than in my lab, staining up my clothes and getting paid to play." Marie Curie

For more than two decades, staff from Mayo Clinic's Florida campus have become Team Mayo at the annual two-day cycling event, Bike MS. The ride raises funds for people affected by multiple sclerosis. [...]