@btom I'm 31 years old and a mom of three children, ages 10, 9, and 20 months. After having my youngest daughter, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and started taking immunosuppressant medications.

About a year after starting those medications, we moved into an apartment complex that had a lot of ducks and pigeons around the property. Not long after, I developed a very dry, constant cough. At first, I didn't think much of it because whenever I get sick, my cough usually takes 2–3 weeks to go away. I assumed it was just lingering from a cold.

After about four months of constantly coughing, I decided something wasn't right and went to my PCP. They did a chest X-ray and told me everything looked fine. I waited a few more weeks, but the cough still wouldn't go away, so my PCP referred me to a pulmonologist.

At my first appointment, the pulmonologist immediately told me, "You're fine. You're too young to have cancer." I continued pushing for answers and requested a CT scan. That's when they found a nodule in my lung.

When I followed up with pulmonology, I was again told it was "probably nothing" because I was too young to have cancer. I requested a bronchoscopy, but I was told it was a dangerous procedure. I continued advocating for myself because I knew something wasn't right, and eventually, the bronchoscopy was performed.

Initially, I was told that I had histoplasmosis, that I was fine, and that it would eventually go away on its own. I requested a referral to an infectious disease doctor. Pulmonology told me they didn't really think it was necessary but agreed to send the referral anyway.

About three weeks later, pulmonology called me and said, "You don't have histoplasmosis. It's Cryptococcus neoformans. You need to see an infectious disease doctor ASAP." They sent another referral marked urgent.

It took about two weeks to get in with infectious disease. The doctor told me I needed to take fluconazole for six months to a year. However, I was only given enough refills to last about two months.

While I was taking the fluconazole, my symptoms gradually started improving. Unfortunately, I have now been without the medication for about three months because I haven't been able to get a refill. I've repeatedly tried contacting the infectious disease office, but no one answers the phone or returns my messages.

Now, the symptoms I originally had are starting to come back.

Pulmonology repeated my CT scan about two weeks ago. I was told that the lung nodule is still the same size and that they don't expect it to ever completely go away. At this point, I honestly don't know what to expect, whether the infection is still active, or when I can expect this disease to actually go away.

My symptoms have included a severe, extremely dry cough; coughing so hard that I throw up; blood when coughing/vomiting; chest pain, tightness making it hard to breath; extreme exhaustion even after drinking multiple energy drinks and coffee; and severe stomach pain. At one point, the stomach pain and illness became so bad that I lost approximately 15 pounds in only three weeks.

The entire experience has been frustrating because I've had to continuously push for testing and answers, and now that my symptoms are beginning to return, I'm worried about what happens next.