Nelisabeth, that is WHY I want you to do the steps I spoke about. It is very common they cannot read each others scans. BUT with getting the records .. it WILL INCLUDE the FINDINGS of that SCAN!!!! That will NOT be as good as the scan itself but it will be something. That is another reason it is SO important to find ONE GOOD INFECTIOUS DISEASE DOCTOR .. and then STICK with them .. then they can see those baseline tests and watch your history as you change over time. When you skip around doctors .. they have NO HISTORY to determine if you are better or worse. Fine one GOOD one and stick with them! Good Luck! Hugs! Katherine

You are right about the scans - I get a CD and written report every time I have one done - about every three months now. What really surprised me was the I was admitted to the hospital for a biopsy of a nodule in my upper right lobe and the radiologist who was to do the biopsy hadn't even seen my scan before I was admitted. So the information had not been exchanged between doctor and hospital before I was admitted, prepared, and hooked up ready to go in for the biopsy. The radiologist took another scan, as I've written before, and sent me home as the nodule had shrunk and the chance of a collapsed lung was too great.

Good news. I do know now that my A/C dusty-filled duct system was contributing a lot to my cough and weakness. Since I have had that changed out, I feel much better. Still have to keep up with the pulmonologist but I do feel better. I can not tolerate dust.

While I'm here, just a word of advice - not to just concentrate on the lungs. I let my other doctors take second place and nearly missed two pre-cancerous (Basal Cell Carcinoma) skin lesions on my face. I've had these cancers twice before on my nose requiring full radiation treatment (33 times each) and felt lucky I caught these in time.

Well, lets enjoy the holiday lights and hoping everyone has joy to hold on to. Kathryn

nelisabeth again ... gon werry thee to deaf! HO! HOW do i find out where Dr. David Priest at Novant in Winston Salem is
the doc fer me? I liked him but was too sick to make much sense of what he said. My niece was with me and she, too, had a hard time ...... we came away thinking the "bugs" were dormant.???????? another question ..... nothin ever shows up on plain x ray .... only the CT/contrast. Is there a dormancy period? okay .... off and at em!

Nelisabeth .. I LOVE google .. all I did was google: and below is what I found.

David H Priest, MD
Address: 1381 Westgate Center Dr, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
Phone: (336) 718-0440
David H Priest, MD ... Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center Novant Health Kernersville Medical Center .. . Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center

Affiliated with Novant Health
Specialties:
Infectious Diseases
Education:
 
 
Medical School:
Wake Forest University 1999

Residency:
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center 2002

Fellowship:
Vanderbilt Medical Center 2004

Board Certifications:
Internal Medicine I LIKE THAT HE ALSO IS BOARD CERTIFED IN INTERNAL MEDICINE!
Infectious Disease
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://health.usnews.com/doctors/david-priest-232518
https://www.google.com/search?q=Dr.+David+Priest+at+Novant+in+Winston+Salem&ie=&oe=
He must be bright because he got into good schools .. go for it! Katherine

Nelisabeth, what you are calling a "dormancy" period .. I call "stable". I have been "stable" meaning not on antibiotics since May 2014 .. meaning the mycobacterium are present in my lungs but are not multiplying/colonizing and my other symptoms show that I do not need antibiotics at this time. YEAH! I am NOT a doctor .. but I think the Xrays can only show up things like scarring etc .. but I don't really know how the doctor evaluates .. I just KNOW you need a good CT scan at this point! Good luck! Katherine

Kathryn, what GREAT advice! Every bit of it! One of the problems with our medical system is that ONE "reader" cannot read a different kind of test. I even had that happen with a RELATED FACILITY .. main office versus branch location for getting a breast MRI. I had gotten them done at the main office downtown for years .. then a branch opened close by .. had one test done. Found out the machine a the branch COULD NOT be read by the Main office!! So that one test could NOT be compared to either my base line .. nor the previous year! Of course no one told me in advance!! Our medical system is SO SCEWED UP!! So try to have all your tests done at ONE place if you can!
Great advice all along . thank you! Happy Holidays! Katherine

Duke Medical University is up that way as well and has a great reputation for lung care and diseases.

Terri, I do NOT have personal experience .. but if people read back pages of our Forum .. some have had not so great experiences at Duke. Read and proceed. Katherine

Really and truly, I feel the Mayo clinics are the GOLD standard in healthcare. I will never go anywhere else.