Introduction

[Guest guest]

I joined this group right after I was diagnosed November 18 so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm 50, married, have a 19 yr old son in college, 3 cats and 2 rabbits. I had pneumonia 15 years ago and have had trouble getting rid of the cough part of a cold ever since. For the last two years I've coughed daily. A year ago I saw a GP who gave me antibiotics after finding something on my xray that might have been an infection. That didn't clear it up completely but he said that my follow up xray looked good and if I still coughed that's just the way my lungs are.

I'm on Advair now so according to the ads on TV, I should be ready to chase grandkids. But from what I can tell, all it does is cause asthma. I hardly ever wheezed before I started taking it but now I notice it all the time.

My FEV1 result was 78% which puts me in the category of 'moderately reduced' lung function. This shocks me. I don't notice a decrease in function and the damage is only in one small part of my left lung. I work out four or more times/week and my lungs are fine. My blood test results were normal, all seven vials of them. But with the most important one, the bacterial culture, not all the tests that were ordered were done (I assume this means they didn't test for mycobacterium avium), so it must be repeated. This isn't so easy. Now that I have my 'strange fruit' acapella device I don't cough up as much as I used to.

I forgot to ask the doctor if having bronchiectasis means I have COPD. Does it?