thank you so much.
i am not yet being seen by specialist , i don't think i have symptoms as serious as yours and doctors are not seemingly concerned. I am sorry to hear about your cf and i read somewhere this can be diagnosed in 30's 40,s and is missed due to being considered a childhood illness.
i am a smoker and in late 40's and desperately trying to stop.I dont understand the term mildly pronounced on my ct and if this means it is not serious , my airways take about one hour to clear after getting up with spray and steam and coughing until feeling sick. will find out about clinics etc
brian
If you aren't seeing a specialist, then you should. The thing with bronchiectstasis is that the areas affected have issues with proper drainage of mucous. The mucous tends to stagnate there, making it a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. There are medications that help thin secretions making it easier to bring up mucous, also along with manual chest physio (or clapping) to help bring up secretions, there are machines that help such as the Vest by Hillrom (essentially a high frequency oscillating percussor-you wear a vest and hook it up to a machine and it "shakes" you). I have one of these devices as I have CF (bronchiectstasis comes with the territory) and it helps tremendously along with nebulized medications (pulmozyme, hypertonic saline etc..).
Getting into a bronchiectstasis clinic would be even better for you as you would qualify for studies and new medications. Have you had a sputum culture done to check for any bacteria or fungus growth? That would be a good idea as treatment is also geared towards what you grow out in your lungs.
Remember, I am not a doctor, just someone who has been around the block. If you have any questions, please ask and I will do my best to help out.
Good luck, this all must be overwhelming.
Jenn