1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

Seeking San Francisco Bay Area MAC/MAI Specialist

Posted by bayarea58 @bayarea58, Sep 1 1:52pm

Hi, I am newly diagnosed and looking for a MAC/MAI specialist in the San Francisco Bay Area for a second opinion re treatment. I am 58 with my only symptom being an occasional dry cough, which I wasn’t even aware of until after the diagnosis. I won’t get into all the details here, but given my age and my CT scan, treatment is being recommended (my doctor said I had no option). Based on the guidelines the treatment recommended by my doctor seems to be straddling the treatment protocols for cavitation disease and nodular/bronchiectatic disease. It does seem I have both, as one of my large nodules apparently has cavitation in the center. In any event, for peace of mind, I would like another set of eyes to take a look at everything and I would prefer that to be someone whose focus is MAC/MAI. If necessary, I would travel out of state. From the resources in these threads, it seems the National Jewish Health Center in Denver may be closest to me. But if I could find a MAC/MAI specialist closer to me, that would be preferable. We have a couple excellent medical facilities in the Bay Area so I have my fingers crossed. Thank you.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Sep 9 11:16am

@bayarea58 Hello and welcome to Mayo Connect. I watched for a few days to see if you got a local answer to your post, but I see nobody has responded.
One way to find a doctor is to visit ntminfo.org Under the resource tab it suggests clinicians near you who specialize in NTM.
Another is to look at the Web Site of larger teaching hospitals near you to see if they treat your condition. I looked ad ucsfhealth.org because the Pulmonology Department has a good reputation. Under conditions treated Bronchiectasis is specifically mentioned.

The next step is to locate the bio for each recommended doc to be sure they list Bronchiectasis or NTM/MAC as an area of treatment. Here is one bio that might interest you - she directs the UCSF NTM clinic:
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/dr-b-shoshana-zha
Even if you cannot get an appointment directly with her, perhaps you can get one with another provider within the specialized clinic.

I'm sure there are other good facilities near you. It will just take a bit of research on your part.

REPLY
2 replies
harrynsc | @harrynsc | Sep 10 5:47pm
In reply to @sueinmn "@bayarea58 Hello and welcome to Mayo Connect. I watched for a few days to see if..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@bayarea58 Hello and welcome to Mayo Connect. I watched for a few days to see if you got a local answer to your post, but I see nobody has responded.
One way to find a doctor is to visit ntminfo.org Under the resource tab it suggests clinicians near you who specialize in NTM.
Another is to look at the Web Site of larger teaching hospitals near you to see if they treat your condition. I looked ad ucsfhealth.org because the Pulmonology Department has a good reputation. Under conditions treated Bronchiectasis is specifically mentioned.

The next step is to locate the bio for each recommended doc to be sure they list Bronchiectasis or NTM/MAC as an area of treatment. Here is one bio that might interest you - she directs the UCSF NTM clinic:
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/dr-b-shoshana-zha
Even if you cannot get an appointment directly with her, perhaps you can get one with another provider within the specialized clinic.

I'm sure there are other good facilities near you. It will just take a bit of research on your part.

Jump to this post

ID Dr. Chelliah MtnView
Pulmo Dr Tseng San Jose
Both have many MAC patients
Harry

REPLY
1 reply
bayarea58 | @bayarea58 | Oct 5 7:31pm
In reply to @sueinmn "@bayarea58 Hello and welcome to Mayo Connect. I watched for a few days to see if..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@bayarea58 Hello and welcome to Mayo Connect. I watched for a few days to see if you got a local answer to your post, but I see nobody has responded.
One way to find a doctor is to visit ntminfo.org Under the resource tab it suggests clinicians near you who specialize in NTM.
Another is to look at the Web Site of larger teaching hospitals near you to see if they treat your condition. I looked ad ucsfhealth.org because the Pulmonology Department has a good reputation. Under conditions treated Bronchiectasis is specifically mentioned.

The next step is to locate the bio for each recommended doc to be sure they list Bronchiectasis or NTM/MAC as an area of treatment. Here is one bio that might interest you - she directs the UCSF NTM clinic:
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/dr-b-shoshana-zha
Even if you cannot get an appointment directly with her, perhaps you can get one with another provider within the specialized clinic.

I'm sure there are other good facilities near you. It will just take a bit of research on your part.

Jump to this post

Sue, thanks for the feedback. My apologies for the delayed response, its been a busy time.

REPLY
bayarea58 | @bayarea58 | Oct 5 7:32pm
In reply to @harrynsc "ID Dr. Chelliah MtnView Pulmo Dr Tseng San Jose Both have many MAC patients Harry" + (show)
@harrynsc

ID Dr. Chelliah MtnView
Pulmo Dr Tseng San Jose
Both have many MAC patients
Harry

Jump to this post

Harry, thanks for the feedback. Sorry its taken me so long to respond -- busy getting a handle on everything.

REPLY
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