Research. Sometimes it seems like just reading the same things over and over...but sometimes. new avenue opens up. I just discovered that my asthma doc ( my favorite doc) does not have bronchiectasis listed as a diagnosis on my online chart. This made me think. The diagnosis came from my pulmonologist, whois in a different medical system. He told me about it almost as an aside....indicating it was mild and shouldn't cause me much trouble. I don't get a lot of help from him actually. He mostly treats people with end stage lung diseases, and I don't think he takes my issues very seriously.
Anyway...of course I researched the condition at the time...but the "mild" comment might have caused me to not pay as close attention as I should have. Well....the hospital giving me inhaled saline solution got me researching again. That is when I found out that saline inhalation is a common treatment for bronchiectasis. More detailed research revealed some very important things:
1. Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB) results from a vicious cycle of increased mucus, which thickens and gets infected, causing shortness of breath and other exacerbations. This is exactly what has gone on with me for the last four years.
2. The damage is often caused gradually, by infections over many years. Let me see...I had bronchitis every Fall for at least 15 years.
3. One population that typically acquires bronchiectasis at a higher rate than other populations is .... wait for it.... women over 60 years old who have never smoked!! Gee...I came down with this nonsense 4 years ago when I was 63, and I have never smoked.
I am so looking forward to being off prednisone so i can tell if my new treatments are working and the improvement is not just the magic pred pills.
So far I have started some breathing exercises, increasing my use of my flutter valve, and am using my saline solution in my nebulizer. Fingers crossed!!
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