emily here blogging from part 1 of my family's last minute northeast adventure. we're currently in a multi-college town in west massachusetts and we intend to end up in northern vermont for my cousin's wedding. few things to note:
1. i am excited to be blogging for the first time ever from my dad's ipad! it is dreamy and im pretty jealous. my dad better watch after his little ipad to make sure it doesn't just happen to go missing or anything! it is impressively tiny and compact after all.
2. this is the first "family vacation" we have taken without my brother. coby left for college in new orleans last weekend. wahhhhhh. i miss him already and it doesn't feel like a true fam vaca without him, although things will surely remain far more neat than usual.
3. i finally learned my bronch results after some hardcore avoidance on my part out of sheer fear. i wish i could tell you i overcame my fear and actually listened to my own advice - "whatever is growing in my lungs is already growing and it is better to know exactly what is to more effectively and efficiently target treatments. ignorance isn't bliss when it comes to bacteria and fungi colonizing my lungs." but alas, i cannot. the reason i ultimately reached out to my doctor, merely to ascertain which antibiotics to bring on vacation, was far less honorable.
i haven't seen my doctor post bronch yet but he indicated via email that my bronch sample grew mrsa, which i've had for years and is the suspected culprit of many of my infections, and aspergillus, which is a new one for me. interestingly, they did not find pseudomonas aeruginosa, which i haven't grown in over 6 years now. i know that i almost definitely still have p.a. in my lungs, but it does seem to suggest that the colonization is relatively small. thats my justification at least. this brings me to my questions for any CFers who may be reading. does anyone else consistently not culture p.a. but continue rather rigorously with antibiotics like colistin, cayston and levaquin to treat it? have you ever cultured aspergillus? if so, what are the meeds they use to treat it? have you felt it was a major infection causing agent?
well, that's all for me now. i must adhere to my self-imposed rule to go to bed early on vacation! sweet dreams. ekg out.
Hi, I just found your blog tonight..for the pa question..my daughter hasn't cultured it since she as 4 (she's 9 now) and we still aggressively treat her for it. Right now we alternate Cayston, Tobi, and Colistin. Like yourself, she cultures MRSA, and one theory that has been discussed is that the MRSA colonization somehow either keeps the PA under control, or masks it in the cultures. Of course there's that happy-merry-sunshine part of me that likes to think it doesn't show because it isn't there, but we both know how likely that is! At any rate, enjoying your blog so far, and going back to reading now!
ReplyDelete-Amanda