Skip to main content
Mayo Clinic Health System
  • Patient Online Services
  • Pay Bill Online
  • Request an Appointment
    • Services
    • Providers
    • Locations

      Minnesota

      • Adams
      • Albert Lea
      • Austin
      • Belle Plaine
      • Blooming Prairie
      • Butterfield
      • Caledonia
      • Cannon Falls
      • Fairmont
      • Faribault
      • Janesville
      • Kenyon
      • Lake City
      • Le Sueur
      • Mankato
      • Montgomery
      • New Prague
      • New Richland
      • Northfield
      • Owatonna
      • Plainview
      • Red Wing
      • Sherburn
      • St. James
      • St. Peter
      • Waseca
      • Waterville
      • Wells
      • Zumbrota

      Wisconsin

      • Arcadia
      • Barron
      • Bloomer
      • Chetek
      • Chippewa Falls
      • Eau Claire
      • Ellsworth
      • Glenwood City
      • Holmen
      • La Crosse
      • Menomonie
      • Mondovi
      • Onalaska
      • Osseo
      • Prairie du Chien
      • Rice Lake
      • Sparta
      • Tomah

      Iowa

      • Decorah
      • Lake Mills

      View map
    • Classes/Events
    • Blog
    • Wellness
    • Referrals
    • COVID-19
    • Influenza

    Recent Posts

    • Running outdoors in winter
      Speaking of Health
      Tips for safe cold-weather training
      February 01, 2023
    • White smartwatch on wrist
      Speaking of Health
      Interval training for heart health
      January 31, 2023
    • Person feeling sick, drinking beverage, holding tissue
      Speaking of Health
      What should you do if you have COVID-19 or flu?
      January 30, 2023
    Featured Topics
    • Behavioral Health
    • Cancer
    • Children's Health (Pediatrics)
    • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Vaccine
    • Exercise and Fitness
    • Heart Health
    • Men's Health
    • Neurosurgery
    • Obstetrics and Gynecology
    • Orthopedic Health
    • Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery
    • Women's Health
    Join our email newsletter
    Patient Stories
    Thursday, December 10, 2020

    Why Jim Benjamin is grateful for popcorn

    Topics in this Post
    • Kidney Health
    • Surgery
    • Telemedicine
    Jim Benjamin

    After talking with Jim Benjamin, you learn that he is a very grateful man.

    First, the Lino Lakes, Minnesota, resident is grateful for popcorn. If he hadn't eaten some popcorn at the movies last March, he might never have had the abdominal pain that led him ― with his wife's encouragement ― to go to a nearby hospital. There, he was diagnosed with diverticulitis triggered by popcorn.

    That wasn't all. A few days later, he received a call. The CT scan taken in the emergency department also raised concerns that he might have kidney cancer.

    Jim believes that if it weren't for the popcorn, he would not have been diagnosed at all. As he learned, kidney cancer is hard to detect, with no symptoms in early stages.

    The doctors at his local hospital recommended a traditional approach to this diagnosis: removal of the entire kidney through an open incision. Jim scheduled the surgery.

    But then a friend suggested Jim get a second opinion from Scott Pate, M.D., a urologist at Mayo Clinic Health System ― Franciscan Healthcare in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The friend highly recommended Dr. Pate, so Jim called and scheduled a video appointment with Dr. Pate.

    Jim is grateful for that, too.

    The video appointment with Dr. Pate saved Jim at least four hours on the road, driving back and forth from Lino Lakes to La Crosse, and other travel costs. And since this was during the COVID-19 pandemic, it helped him manage social distancing and protect himself and his care team.

    And that wasn't all.

    "Prior to seeing Mr. Benjamin during the first video appointment, I reviewed his outside records and imaging. The imaging showed a 4-centimeter mass on his left kidney," says Dr. Pate. "Traditional surgery would remove the entire kidney through a larger incision and lead to a longer, more painful recovery and opioids to manage the pain. He'd have to stay in the hospital for several days and then more time at home recovering."

    Dr. Pate had another answer: robotic surgery.

    "This surgery could be safely performed robotically," Dr. Pate says. "Robotic technology uses small keyhole incisions ― the size of a fingertip ― to cut out the tumor in the kidney and then close the incision with suture."

    After this surgery, the patient could expect to go home the next day. Dr. Pate shared this information with Jim during the video appointment and, again, he was grateful.

    Jim canceled the surgery at the local hospital and worked with Dr. Pate's team to schedule the robotic surgery at Mayo Clinic Health System.

    On the day of the surgery, Jim and his wife drove to La Crosse. Thirty minutes prior to the surgery, Jim met Dr. Pate for the first time in person to discuss the procedure and the next steps. The surgery was successful, and Jim was discharged the next day.

    And, yes, he was grateful.

    "We'll follow Mr. Benjamin for several years virtually to spare him travel," says Dr. Pate. "We've already had our first postoperative video appointment, and he's doing very well. This kind of interaction — a video appointment as a first encounter — is a real benefit. It minimizes drive time and travel costs for patients in nearby major cities, (which is) especially relevant during a pandemic. Mr. Benjamin and his wife only had to travel to La Crosse one day rather than several days. This is how health care should and can be done."

    The relaxation of certain state and federal regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed this interaction to occur.

    "This is just one of many examples showing the need to manage federal and state regulations to make it easier for patients to get the kind of care they need and want through telehealth connections," says Steve Ommen, M.D., medical director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Connected Care.

    Certainly, Jim Benjamin is grateful. He's grateful for popcorn, friends, video connections, robotic surgery and Dr. Pate.

    As he put it, after this health care journey, "I feel great, and I'm grateful."


    For the safety of our patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was either recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in a non-patient care area where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.
    Topics in this Post
    • Kidney Health
    • Surgery
    • Telemedicine

    Related Posts

    Susan Kohnke Sepsis diagnosis prompts quick action to save woman’s life
    Blog_cardiac3 Performing more than 400 minimally invasive heart valve repair surgeries
    trauma_504x504 Eau Claire man survives accident, exceeds expectations

    Stay Connected

    • Contact Us
    • Notice of Nondiscrimination
    • Notice of Privacy Practices
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Volunteer
    • Donate
    • For Patients & Visitors
    • Financial Assistance
    • Community Resources
    • Mayo Clinic Connect
    • For Medical Professionals
    • Press Room
    • Mayo Clinic
    • Home
    © 2018 - 2023 Mayo Clinic Health System