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New Diagnosis of MAC/MAI & I'm scared
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Oct 13, 2022 | Replies (349)Comment receiving replies
@windwalker, Hi Terri. Thanks for the info! We've lived in Oro Valley, a Tucson suburb, in the winter since 2009 and spent all year here for two years before that. I thought I caught valley fever in my second summer here, but wasn't tested then. Last year after I coughed up blood in MI, they tested and didn't find any antibodies for valley fever.
We just got back to Tucson a week ago, and I noticed I'm coughing more. I had been lap swimming 2-3 times a week in a heated (86 degree) outdoor pool here since we first moved here and once in a while I used the community hot tub. I'm NOT swimming here any more!!! I've been trying to convince my husband to go to coastal Georgia or South Carolina for the winter, instead of here, because the drive is much shorter and we could go back and forth from MI with a cat. (We used to have two cats, who have both passed away. We drove 3 long days with the cats back and forth to MI and they hated it! Now we fly because I hated the drive.) Maybe knowing the MAC issue, I'll have more luck persuading him. 🙂
Replies to "@windwalker, Hi Terri. Thanks for the info! We've lived in Oro Valley, a Tucson suburb, in..."
@lorifilipek Hi Lori. My husband did a lot of work in Oro Valley. He had a contracting company and did the paver driveways. I hate for you to give up your swimming. You can have the water tested for mac by a lab. I have the name of one if you are interested. It is mainly the the indoor pools and indoor/outdoor hot tubs that pose the most danger for mac. I live in coastal S.C.; 21 miles north of Savannah. Our winters are mild, maybe 2-3 nights that get to the freezing mark. No snow or ice storms. Not many gray or rainy days either. We don't have the plethora of good restaurants that Tucson has though. It is scenic here and lots of bicycle paths. Should visit and see if the southeast is your cup of tea. Let me know if you come down this way, we can do lunch.
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Interesting theory about where the MAC came from - according to my doc, and the reading I have done, the bacterium is endemic in MANY places - in fact, just about everywhere. I too was diagnosed after several winters in South Texas and Arizona - and several bouts of what appeared to be desert fever or valley fever. But with long-term asthma & now the bronch and MAC diagnosis/treatment, I'm pretty sure location isn't going to make any difference unless I choose to live in a sterile bubble. So I take precautions like staying away from sick people & staying inside with filtered air when the yukky soil around me is being disturbed by raking, mowing, wind etc. I have also switched my South Texas gardening from in-ground to pots with sterilized soil, and wear gloves & mask when doing it. Pretty sure I look ridiculous, but my friends know how sick I was for the last few years, the rest I don't care about...