The usual protocol is to have three consecutive negative cultures, one month apart, to consider the NTM "conquered." Not necessarily cured, but amounts too small too grow in a culture.

If you are on antibiotic therapy, the doctor resets the clock to your first negative culture, and you continue the meds for another 12-18 months to catch any slow growing bacteria that may be hiding deep in the lungs. During that time, you continue to have sputum cultures every 1-3 months to be sure the infection doesn't flare up again. After one or more years with clear cultures, your doctor may increase the interval between cultures to 3-6-12 months.

If you are not on antibiotics, after 3 negative cultures, the doctor will continue to monitor for another year or so, depending on symptoms.

Part of the ongoing monitoring is usually CT scans every 6 months or a year, to help monitor your lung condition.

You may have noticed how indefinite the timelines are because "it all depends" on many factors - the severity of your initial infection, the overall condition of your lungs, how you are handling the medications...

Are you using antibiotics now?