Hi John. My experience was being diagnosed from a chest xray for pneumonia that showed a cavitary lesion. At that point I was sent for a CT scan which showed bronchiectasis and another cavitary lesion. I too, was afraid it was cancer but the pulmonary doctor was pretty certain it wasn't because of the locations and that they were solitary and far apart from each other. I was then tested for NTM infection which came back positive. It too, was always healthy, didn't smoke, and exercised regularly. Has your wife been tested for infection? They normally do this with a sputum culture or if that is unsuccessful then a bronchoscopy. That would be my next step for certain.

My story: I went on medication for the NTM infection and also Amikacin for the cavitary lesions. I am happy to report that the medication worked and the infection cleared up. I was on meds for 15 months total. The lesions are still there but are not growing and have gotten a bit smaller. One has filled in but not sure what that means. I, of course, still have bronchiectasis because that is forever but otherwise am back to living a fairly normal life.

And regarding urinary incontinence. I did develop that but I am also 10 years older than your wife. I think when the infection was active I was coughing a lot and that may have weakened my bladder. That plus age in my case.

And regarding the cognitive blip. I really wouldn't worry about that. It's easy to miscalculate a tip when you are under stress. I once accidentally gave my stylist a 50% tip instead of 20% For some reason I took half of the total instead of taking 10% and doubling it when calculating in my head. Distracted was all.
My suggestion is to laugh that one off and move on. We are only human after all.

Best to you and T and please let us know how your pulmonary visit goes.

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