Quiet Forum

@thumperguy Yes, Don, sometimes the forum gets quiet but that's ok. It makes you appreciate it more when it starts rolling again. And I love your silly efforts at humor. Life is too short and too hard not to laugh. I believe laughter is our panacea. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Nan

I was thinking the same thing, and check the forum daily. It has provided so much information and been such a blessing. Just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a better 2021.

I’ve been quiet the past couple of weeks, due to days preoccupied with medical treatments. Between three sessions a day with the nebulizer and SmartVest plus two IV infusions daily through a PICC line, I feel like I haven’t had time for much else. Thankfully, the PICC line and meropenem treatments came to an end Saturday, so life is sort of normal once more. Keeping fingers crossed that the IV sessions killed the bacteria they were supposed to kill. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas to you. Stay Safe and I hope the treatments worked out for you.

Wow CK, I can imagine that by the time all of the “obligatory” items on your daily schedule are tended to you haven’t much time left to be frivolous and harmlessly irresponsible (if there is such a thing). Hope it lightens up for you soon. Don

So sorry to hear about CK’s busy treatment schedule and hope that things settle soon. I’ve been pretty quiet as well. I had surgery in September (thanks to everyone for their advice prior to the surgery) and it was a more difficult recovery than I expected. Age does take a toll on us...

I had my annual appointment with the Mac (or NTM) specialist in December and both my CT and my sputum bacterial counts were worse than a year ago. My PFT was normal. The specialist said that it’s not uncommon to see this kind of setback for people after surgery as airway clearance suffers and general health takes a step back during recovery. I have been feeling a little sorry for myself after doing pretty well on the nebulizer twice a day, etc. I’m not sure what I can add to my daily regime to get my lungs back to where they were in the summer but will persevere. I just hope my CT and sputum counts improve by the time I see him in June. It compounds my angst that he’s seeing me in 6 months as well.

Anyway, thanks to thumperguy for keeping us connected and always having something positive to contribute!

Re cksoville and KathyHG I know what that feeling is being consumed every day by IVs and taking medications and airway clearance —-I had surgery a year ago and had my right upper lobe removed after that I followed up with imepentum and amicacin. Those medications seem to do the trick after two months of therapy—— but in May I found that I had Mac but no abscesses!!—my pulmonologist started me on arikayce for four months which really seem to help me a lot until my creatinine lab showing some kidney involvement slightly and I was taken off arikayce (my pulmonologist wants me to go back on It again now that my creatinine is back to normal but I’m going to a nephrologist today that I saw about a month ago to see if I really should start back on arikayce again or not. I’m not coughing now, I do my airway clearance once a day with with 7% saline. I am short of breath At times but if I could live like this forever I would love that!!! I probably should do another sputum now and see if I still have the Mac because maybe I don’t even need the arikayce again will let you know what occurs. Still afraid they’ll cause I don’t want to ruin my kidneys with the medication for my lungs thanks for letting me vent love you all for your support Judy

I’m so sorry you had to go through the picc line meropenem treatment. It’s been almost a year since I was sent home from the hospital with the picc line and huge anxiety about what was expected of me to do at home. And yes, you don’t do anything else those two weeks. My husband had to wake me up early so I could start nebulizing etc to get that done before my first infusion of the day. We took a picture to send to my kids of all the equipment laid out. Unbelievable. But it worked. Those deflating clear softballs are examples of creative minds at work.

Thanks for all of the comments. This forum is a wonderful reminder that none of us are in this situation alone or without support. Thankfully both the color and volume of my sputum have improved considerably since the IV infusions. And I never realized what a blessing it is to be able to take a shower with both hands!

Kathy,
I also had surgery, but a year ago in September. It was robotic and at Sloan Kettering in NYC. It was very traumatic and I am only now, just beginning to heal. They move a lot around in there if they do a segmentectomy or two, and my body felt terrible:
chest tightness, no energy, fevers, terrible coughing, and breathlessness. I'm 76. Be patient, do what you can, and be really kind to yourself.
Ellen