You said "...I have read that once diagnosed with MAC you have 1 to 5 years to live,..." I think you could find 100 or more people in this group to dispute that. It used to be (maybe 10 years ago or so) that if you hard severe cavitary MAC or M. abscessus that life expectancy was not great.

Over the five years I have been active in this group, so much has changed! There are new antibiotic protocols to treat infections. The importance of daily airway clearance has been proven. Use of inhaled 7% saline can help to knock down MAC, bring up more mucus, and improve lung health.

While there are undoubtedly people whose MAC, lung damage or other conditions are so severe that their life expectancy is shortened, my ID doc stresses "MAC and Bronchiectasis are not diseases you die from, they are conditions you learn to live with."

So, all that said, many of us with mild cases of MAC choose a "wait and watch" strategy. We do rigorous airway clearance, exercise and eat well, stay as healthy as we can. We hope our MAC doesn't get worse. If mine does get bad again (like it was 5 years ago) I will consider a return to the antibiotics, or maybe sign up for one of the new drug or non-drug trials that keep cropping up. And I fully intend to live another 10 or 15 years or longer...
Sue