I went to the Mayo Clinic for shoulder surgery 10 years ago. It turned out fine but they keep sending me letters asking me questions about my pain and motion. I keep telling them I’m fine. Is there any way to get off their mailing list?

It may be you are part of a long-term study to see what kind of results are possible with the surgery you had. Patients who don’t come back to the clinic are often sent a survey with questions to answer.

p>The data is entered into a computer and tracked over a period of 12 months, two years, five years, and longer. The information gathered can help doctors find out when an operation isn’t working well. Sometimes they are able to find factors that put a patient at risk for failure. This kind of information can help in future patient selection.

Keep filling out the paper work if you don’t mind being part of the ongoing research carried out by the Mayo Clinic. If it’s truly too much for you, contact the clinic directly and ask them to remove you from the follow-up mailings.