1. < Infectious Diseases

Please talk to me about pseudomonas, nocardia and aspergillious

Posted by lesleys56 @lesleys56, Jan 10 3:06pm

Does anyone have experience with these bacteria and fungi? I had a PICC line for 2 weeks. Now what happens?

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lesleys56 | @lesleys56 | Mar 6 10:41am
In reply to @sherrig "Thank you for following up. I started last Thursday. I do an infusion at home 3x..." + (show)
@sherrig

Thank you for following up. I started last Thursday. I do an infusion at home 3x a day - 6 AM, 2 PM, 9:30 PM. This is to last 3 weeks to treat Pseudomonas. The company supplying "Option Care" sends the required medication and supplies weekly. They sent a nurse to train me. An at home nursing agency is coming once a week to take blood and do the dressing change. They are available 24 hours for questions and emergencies.

So far the only side effect is looser stools. The first few days I felt much better, but the last 2 days, I have been tired. I think that is due to getting up in the very early morning hours to take my other antibiotics for MAC, then go back to bed until 6 AM, but not getting uninterrupted sleep.

Is the infusion helping? Not sure I can only say I have less sputum and it has a little less yellow stuff in it. I was hoping all the yellow would be gone by now. Overall, other than the timing of the infusions, it's not as bad as I thought.

I did my first shower today, right before the nurse came to change the dressing, just in case I got it wet. The hospital who put in the PICC line gave me this plastic arm glove to cover the whole arm while showering. I used the handheld shower head holding it in the arm with the plastic glove, to wet and rinse myself, thought this would lessen the chance I would get the arm wet. l went very well. I did not get the dressing wet.

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I'm happy to hear it's going smoothly! So far I've been able to avoid this type of treatment. Thanks for the update!

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jeffsmock | @jeffsmock | Mar 12 11:13am
In reply to @sherrig "Thank you for following up. I started last Thursday. I do an infusion at home 3x..." + (show)
@sherrig

Thank you for following up. I started last Thursday. I do an infusion at home 3x a day - 6 AM, 2 PM, 9:30 PM. This is to last 3 weeks to treat Pseudomonas. The company supplying "Option Care" sends the required medication and supplies weekly. They sent a nurse to train me. An at home nursing agency is coming once a week to take blood and do the dressing change. They are available 24 hours for questions and emergencies.

So far the only side effect is looser stools. The first few days I felt much better, but the last 2 days, I have been tired. I think that is due to getting up in the very early morning hours to take my other antibiotics for MAC, then go back to bed until 6 AM, but not getting uninterrupted sleep.

Is the infusion helping? Not sure I can only say I have less sputum and it has a little less yellow stuff in it. I was hoping all the yellow would be gone by now. Overall, other than the timing of the infusions, it's not as bad as I thought.

I did my first shower today, right before the nurse came to change the dressing, just in case I got it wet. The hospital who put in the PICC line gave me this plastic arm glove to cover the whole arm while showering. I used the handheld shower head holding it in the arm with the plastic glove, to wet and rinse myself, thought this would lessen the chance I would get the arm wet. l went very well. I did not get the dressing wet.

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I had a PICC line put in I guess for over a month. I would go hospital twice a day for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours late afternoon. Trying to get rid of aspergillus. Good luck,
It didn't work for me. They ended up taking most of my right lung.

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1 reply
lesleys56 | @lesleys56 | Mar 12 1:27pm
In reply to @jeffsmock "I had a PICC line put in I guess for over a month. I would go..." + (show)
@jeffsmock

I had a PICC line put in I guess for over a month. I would go hospital twice a day for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours late afternoon. Trying to get rid of aspergillus. Good luck,
It didn't work for me. They ended up taking most of my right lung.

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I am so sorry to hear that. Must be rough and I can't even fathom what you must have gone through.

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1 reply
jeffsmock | @jeffsmock | Mar 12 2:26pm
In reply to @lesleys56 "I am so sorry to hear that. Must be rough and I can't even fathom what..." + (show)
@lesleys56

I am so sorry to hear that. Must be rough and I can't even fathom what you must have gone through.

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It wasn't that bad there is people that go through worse. I lost my wife in August 2023 and that was a lot worse. But thank you for your kindness.

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dolllover | @dolllover | 3 days ago

I had the three times a day infusions of Meropenen for two weeks several years ago. It worked well. Home health nurses taught my husband to do the infusions and we got along fine. The Picc line was not hard to take care of and used plastic wrap to take shower. I felt wonderful after the infusions for quite some time.

I had a bronchoscopy several weeks ago and they found pseudomonas. Pulmonologist has me on azithromycin Mon-Wed-Fri for three months, possibly rest of life. First two weeks was rough, I had a serious case of rhinosinusitis. The pulling of that mucus, yeast infection from my sinuses and brain hurt a lot. The worst pain I've had in years.

I'm in my third week of azithromycin and feeling much better. Pulmonologist is in Italy so I guess I am on my own to decide whether this works but it seems to be working.

Living with bronchiectasis is challenging. I use manuka honey and mullein to get green gunk up. I have started mullein tea as well so will see if that helps.

God Bless all of you living with these circumstances. Try to stay positive even though it is hard at times. We can be here for each other.

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tavrgrad2020 | @tavrgrad2020 | 1 day ago

My first encounter with pseudomonas aeruginosa was in 2018 which entered my bloodstream and like you, several weeks with picc line (meropenem) in hostital and home. Thought it was gone until last fall (2024) when reinfected after a Mohs surgery wound. Apparently, it never went away and was still on my skin. So, I too am in a quandry. My GP was surprised thinking it is most commonly contracted in medical settings, like intubation. Most antibiotics are ineffective. Frustrating and worriesome.

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tavrgrad2020 | @tavrgrad2020 | 1 day ago
In reply to @lesleys56 "The nice think is, I was able to stay home and just go to hospital each..." + (show)
@lesleys56

The nice think is, I was able to stay home and just go to hospital each day.

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Yes, a visiting nurse will provide instructions for your caregiver. Important to make sure there are no bubles in the line.

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