lung surgery against mac infection

I HAD a 3 cm Cavitary mass from a newly diagnosed NTM infection .
I presented with no symptoms at all and it just showed up as an incidental finding on chest x-ray.I was treated with 5 antibiotics ( one I.V through a PIC line ..that I was only able to tolerate a week .I had contacted a fantastic thoracic surgeon here at NYU ( Dr Robert Cerfolio)who robotically removed my mass !
My 3 month post surgery C.T was negative and I remain asymptomatic!

No,I decided that I couldn’t have a quality of life on antibiotics that were getting me so sick that I couldn’t leave my house ,so I contacted a lung surgeon and asked if my cavitary mass was operable …Against my pulmonologist’s advise ,I had a robotic lung resection with a surgeon who was part of the NTM team .
I now have no more mass and no symptoms.!!

No,I decided that I couldn’t have a quality of life on antibiotics that were getting me so sick that I couldn’t leave my house ,so I contacted a lung surgeon and asked if my cavitary mass was operable …Against my pulmonologist’s advise ,I had a robotic lung resection with a surgeon who was part of the NTM team .
I now have no more mass and no symptoms.!!

No,I decided that I couldn’t have a quality of life on antibiotics that were getting me so sick that I couldn’t leave my house ,so I contacted a lung surgeon and asked if my cavitary mass was operable …Against my pulmonologist’s advise ,I had a robotic lung resection with a surgeon who was part of the NTM team .
I now have no more mass and no symptoms.!!

@visions63
I also had MAC and was on 3 antibiotics for a year and a half. During that time I only had 1 neg sputum test. I then had a PIC line put in and was on 2 antibiotics 3x per day for 4 months. Finally had another negative test. I still had quite a few cavities , one that was especially large. My pulmonologist referred me to a lung surgeon because he was worried that cavity was the host for the MAC. The surgeon agreed and recommended robotic surgery as well. That was Aug of 2024. All of the biopsies came back negative. I get a CT evey 6mths, so far no more MAC. I do have Bronchiectasis, so I still cough up a lot of sputum, but I will take that over being on antibiorics non stop. Stay healthy!

@visions63 wow, you are so brave. How many hours for the surgery and recovery? so glad you are feeling better.

@sweethighland…surgery was about 1 1/2 -2 hrs of surgery .My surgeon texted my sister during the whole procedure..Usually people are discharged the next day ,but I have some cardiac issues ,so I stayed a little longer .
Recovery was about 2 weeks with texting my vitals to my surgeon every day .
I made sure that I walked everyday which is really important!
Best decision I’ve ever made was to have this surgery and have a life !!