How do you enjoy the Holiday Season while living with Bronchiectasis?

All depends on your situation how careful you need to be. For me having a very quiet Christmas with my husband and two dogs is where I am at. And avoid any shopping and use online pick up in car for grocery shopping! This is a bad season for pulmonary this year so factor that in as well. Better safe than sorry. And get vaccinated!

Yup, terrifying isn't it?
For shopping, I start by September and do all by pick-up (the stay in your car kind), delivery. So many stores including grocery stores have these 'conveniences' now.
My big family gathering will include a 6 week old who was just discharged after having RSV ! The rest of the folks have some Covid, some flu, but NO RSV shots. Because of my own endless infections, I have not had my last Covid or RSV shot. (Yet)
So, I am having the family of vaccinated folks over for Christmas eve, and 2 friends for Christmas Day who are equally 'safe': staying home with the music playing, where it is clean and with the air filter running, gives the freedom to enjoy without concerns.
I look forward to this happy time, to celebrate the Lord's birth -- and we don't need any bling to do that.
Merry Christmas &/or Safe, Happy Holidays to all!

Newly-diagnosed with active teens in the house and a husband who doesn't quite "get it" about my risks and that he also really needs to vaccinate. Suddenly, I can't do what I have always done (they do keep asking why we can't really travel, dine out, etc.) and I am trying to encourage them at least to do these things without me. I do feel like a sitting duck in my house house (and one of my kids gets sick A LOT). Good masks and constant risk-assessment, plus some hope and prayer, is how I roll, in addition to airway clearance and just trying to look after myself. It's heavy, though.

I do the same with regards to shopping. I do everything online, even groceries. If I must go anywhere. I always wear an N95 mask.

I always have chronic infection going on since I have chronic form of Pseudomonas but I was still able to get vaccinated and did ok. COVID shot had the most side effects but I got through it. Flu shot had almost nothing.

I ask myself what is really important and then monitor my energy to do those things. That will be different for each of us. I find that if I am working towards things that matter to me, I will be happy and perhaps energized. I do my best to take care of myself (again, that will be different for each of us) and to be on the look out for ways to bless others. 'Tis the season . . .

Hi, can we talk a little about your situation, and why you feel you cannot travel and dine out? I am an active, retired senior and grandma of two little "germ factories" six plus years into my journey with Bronchiectasis and having fought both Pseudomonas and MAC. I also have lifelong asthma, hyperreactive airways and chronic pain.

At first I was very wary too - wore a lot of N95 masks even before Covid. Then the pandemic lockdown hit, and we isolated a lot - until I insisted we create a safe plan for spending time with others. We did a lot of outdoor activities, even in winter. We washed hands, sanitized surfaces and masked - even the toddler was willing to do it to spend time together.

Through all of this, I remember the words of my very wise ID doc "This is a disease you live with, not die from. You need to figure out the highest risks and limit them, then get on with life." And my even wiser PCP of 20+ years who said "You are a social being. You need people and activities to be fully alive. We need to figure out how you can do it safely."

So...we travel, even spending time in hotels. We dine out. We visit tourist attractions and we hike. How do we do it safely? In any questionable environment, we choose outdoors over indoors (patio dining, outdoor concerts.) We choose open air over closed (walking tours vs bus tours, events in arenas with high ceilings and massive air flow vs small spaces.) We dine at our favorite restaurants at off-peak times if we can. We even fly - fully masked in the terminal and on the plane.

In winter, we are part of a small community in South Texas, and we avoid people who are not careful with handwashing, staying home when ill, etc. We entertain a few like minded friends, or we have groups on our covered patio. I swim in the outdoor pool, but avoid the hot tub.

As a volunteer for several organizations, I do what I can from home, but part of the blessing of being a volunteer is interacting...so I do both indoor and outdoor events, masking indoors if I feel the need.

I do airway clearance, use saline, Mucinex and NAC to keep my mucus thin. I make sure to eat a healthy diet, exercise and get enough rest. I try not to overdo, spacing activities wisely. I stay away from sick people.

What has been the outcome of my plan? One exacerbation in the last two years. And two "almost colds" brought to an early halt by Vitamin C, Zinc and rest. The exacerbation was brought on by breaking my own rule - we travelled over 5000 miles in just over two weeks, with some very long days and short nights. A few days after we settled into our Texas place, we both caught a very nasty virus, and our bodies were just too tired to fight it. Fortunately, with my PCP and Pulmo, I had a plan in place - a short, mighty burst of steroids (I know, not recommended, but this works for me) to kill the inflammation in my lungs, plus extra rest.

This is just one person's solution, but maybe a peak at how you could accommodate. Please don't miss out on these precious years with your kids! Put on a mask and join them. If you are not comfortable removing it to eat in a restaurant, you could always do what one of my friends who cannot eat solid food does - ask for a beverage and a straw, just sip and leave the mask on.

Does any of this sound doable to you?
Sue

How will I spend my holidays?
95% of our small shopping was done online, then picked up or delivered. For the rest, I go the the stores about an hour after opening. I will grocery shop tomorrow at 8am. Those necessary tasks I do as low-risk as possible.
We have been baking and decorating with a little help from our grands.
We went to a holiday youth acrobatic circus as a family and had seats up and away from the main crowd.
We will go to church - masked- on Christmas Eve.
We will gather with close family over the weekend, then have a larger gathering next week. Our entire family has always been very conscientious about sick members staying home, so it is a minimal worry.
We will spend New Year's Eve with friends of 40 years - we are all either compromised or caretakers of family who are, so we feel safe together.
In the meantime, today is a playdate - the boys are into Legos while they wait for Grampa to help build a robot kit. Mom is able to do a little prepping without help.
Sue

How do you deal with a husband who “doesn’t get it”? I have one of those.

My husband understood better when he came to doctor appointments. Also good for me to have a another set of ears listening