Thanks for your info. In a house like ours built in late 80's, you had to have sump pumps. These can be the source of the problem even though we paid to have this corrected, it will never be fixed. It is very discouraging as you can live next to people without a problem and then get into a house like ours.

@macjane , What a horror story!

@macjane, Asbestos has not been discussed along with mac. I think that one person on this site has mesothelioma (from asbestos) by doing her husband's laundry. He brought particles home from work on his clothing. I cannot remember if she also had mac. MAC is typically an opportunistic bacteria that attacks diseased lungs or weakened immune systems.

When we moved back to Connecticut from Tennessee we bought our first home ever that had radon. The seller didn’t even know and was appreciative that we found it. We had had very thorough and pricey testing done. He paid to have a radon mit system installed.

@macjane I have not seen any discussion on the relationship between these two. And so far I have not found any discussion about direct link between MAC and asbestos online. There is though some kind of indirect link between the two. Asbestos exposure has been linked to lung cancer. And some studies of MAC seem to suggest that a certain percentage of lung cancer patients are tested positive for MAC infection. That is as far as the association between the two goes from my search on the Internet. Have not seen anything to suggest there is a direct link.

That is why I am “watched” - well my nodules because they are growing, and my mom and aunt both died of lung cancer. I am sure my aunt had undiagnosed MAC first based on what I remember was going on with her at the time. Her home from the early 1900’s was full of asbestos in the attic where she worked from home. I don’t think there is conclusive research on the relationship just conjecture based on comorbidity.

This support group is great. I have never heard of so much info and basically support. I got an appointment to talk on line and I see how this mystery illness is so darn complicated.

The air ducts in both of our schools were not working for quite some time - when they were finally “on” they were filthy - and that is an understatement. We had an OSCA visit. My girl friend actually called them. She told me “after the fact.” I think that was a contributing factor (Not all) to her losing her job. She ruffled a lot of feathers. The thing with MAC is that we can ask why and how we got it, but that will ultimately make us crazy. The bottom line is that we have to have a genetic predisposition or body type, a compromised immune system or some other contributing factor for this opportunistic infection to snag us! Not everyone gets it!

I like your response. Thanks

Not everybody who has MAC has bronchiectasis. But for those of us who do, bronchiectasis is a major factor for catching MAC infections.