Hmmm, I always had a little shortness of breath, but I actually went to the first lung doctor when I had little bit of blood in sputum. I probably had this disease for many years without any symptoms, and was ok other than shortness of breath. It is very slow growing. But I know someone young that actually took medication for 2 years and got rid of MAC. Now he may not have had bronchiectasis, and he was young. He is the only one know of that got well, everyone else, including myself keeps reinfecting because of enlarged airways disease. My doc said I won't get rid of this, but can live a long life if I maintain sputum clearance and aerobics. Of course, when I cough up blood, that is a danger because of clotting an airway, so there is always some fear. See there is no hard set in stone way to handle this disease. Just gather info, educate, try everything doc and people on this site suggest, and hang on, there may be a cure coming some day. xo