Experience with National Jewish Health?

Many, many of us on this site have made the "pilgrimage" to NJH, myself included. My PCP also recommended I go and I'm very grateful to him for that. I live in southern AZ and take the trip to Denver at least twice a year.

If you can swing it financially I'd highly recommend it. Keep in mind that the first visit may last up to a week for all the testing. My insurance (Medicare and BCBS Federal) paid all the medical expenses. If you call NJH they'll help you with the insurance end of things.

You can search this forum for lots of info on what to expect and where to stay in Denver.

Good luck!

@coffcoff thank you for that info

@coffcoff I would be interested in hearing what they do for you.

@britchic Type "National Jewish Health" into the search bar under the Bronchiectasis and MAC heading when you first get on this site. There are tons of discussions about NJH on this forum. Everything you want to know and more!

My experience in Feb-March this year was both overwhelming and greatly rewarding. While some. of the testing done was repetitious (doctors always place more trust in their own data,) some was completely unique and eye opening. There are multiple respected specialists, some known at an international level, cooperating to address multiple aspects at the same time. Other questions may be raised. requiring more evaluation and longer stays. I was there tor 9 days including one weekend.
I live in an area with two highly respected medical schools but all of my specialists defer to NJH. They are that good.

I have been a patient at NJH for 3 years now and highly recommend them. Unlike some others here, I am on no meds and haven't been for over 2.5 years. I could not tolerate the Big 3 but I do follow the usual protocols with airway clearance, etc. For the past 9 months my sputum samples show "no AFB" in spite of not being on meds. Initially, they showed either MAC or MAI. I go to NJH every 6 months for a check up and my doctor supports my decisions. I also have BE and a lung fungus, which have also been stable over the 3 years. There are minor changes with each CT scan, which can show a reduction of nodules in some areas and new nodules in other areas. One never knows. Since I do have a wonderful ID doctor looking over me, I go on with my life with less focus on health and more on the things in life I enjoy. None of us knows our health futures anyway, healthy or not. You won't regret going to NJH.

@britchic They do a battery of testing to rule out any other underlying problems that may be contributing to the problem.
They have dealt with respiratory problems specifically since the late 1800's.
When your doctor recommends you go there, they are probably saying we need those specialists to be another set of eyes and ears to help us all.
Hope you are able to go. I went and was glad I did to know I had no other contributing factor. It would have taken months locally to have what they did in a week.
Barbara