I too am on "watch and wait," but by my own choice. I am nearing 80 years of age and in pretty good health other than my lungs. I've tried the Big 3 when diagnosed in March of 2023 and was unable to tolerate them and questioned my local pulmonologist's treatment (and I do like him very much) and, with his knowledge, I decided to go to NJH for a second opinion. After much testing from August 2023 through January (of this year), my NJH Infectious Disease doctor put me on the Big 2, Ethambutol and Azithromycin.

I started the first week on the Azith and added the Etham the second week. Three days into the Azith, I had rare side effects: phantosmia and dysgeusia. I was smelling sewage and tasting metal.

Long story short, I am unable to take the main macrolide, Azith, and thus I am on "watch and wait" and will see what future CT scans reveal in regard to the progression of both the BE and MAC. I am feeling fine and doing quite well with the Aerobika, Mediterranean diet, and exercise. I am unable to use saline or Albuterol due to both causing my major hemoptysis over the past year. So, for now, I am relying on the airway clearance and, for the most part, I am stable, remaining positive, and hoping for no major medical problems into the future.