Hello Tutti, if you read though our other forum you will see that I was so fearful of the antibiotic treatment that to my regret I did not agree to treatment until I was diagnosed with the second mycobacterium: MYCOBACTERIUM ABSCESSUS SUBSPECIES M. BOLETTI ISOLATES.

This of course required my body to fight off not one but two mycobacteriums now but of course that is exactly why I began writing on the forum .. to let others know NOT to be as fearful as I was .. that it is NOT so bad .. that you will NOT get all the side effects that you hear about! Each persons body is different!

I did the inhaled Amikacin for thirty months for 5x a week and then later for 3x a week as I got better (and whined a LOT to Dr. Aksamit!!) There are a few little tricks to the trade to the inhaled Amikacin so if you are going to be put on it let me know and I will tell you how I did it to try to make it as efficient and least hassle as possible.

I am SOOO glad your Doctor is working with Mayo .. gives me peace of mind. Absolutely two heads are better than one. Now EACH PERSON is different so DO NOT think this is what YOU should do .. but it is what Dr. Aksamit prescribed for my particular situation and MY two mycobacterium:
** 1. Azithromycin 250mg 2. Avelox 400mg 3. 2-Rifampin 300mg 4. Amikacin 2ml - inhaled 5x a week and later 3x a week 5. Ethambutol 800mg

Prior to the start of the antibiotic start I had a "baseline" hearing test and vision test for which I requested a copy so that if I traveled I would have a copy on hand for comparison.

During treatment:
Monthly I did: blood tests
Quarterly I did: vision tests and hearing tests

Tutti, if you have an option .. opt for inhaled Amikacin .. I KNOW I am biased .. but I feel Dr. Aksamit is the Guru of this disease .. and HE said to inhale the Amikacin directly into my LUNGS .. NOT an IV into my whole body!! The abscesses was in my LUNGS .. and that is where the inhaled Amikacin is DIRECTED!! Now I am NOT a doctor .. but I just googled it .. and here is what I found: Conclusion Aerosolized delivery of amikacin is a promising adjunct to standard therapy for pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infections.

AND THAT is directly from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1808062/

As you all know .. I am big on educating yourselves. Do your own due diligence and make up your own mind on this but I'd go for inhaled Amikacin even though it may be a bit more trouble. Personally I did not have any side effects from the Amikacin .. I would just watch TV as I carefully .. fully inhaled.

Any other questions .. just let me know and I will try to answer .. I am back home now until the end of August. Hugs to you! Katherine