Wife has a rough year

My wife was diagnosed with Bronchiectasis in October 2016 Then she had Psuedomas in January 2017 and had to have Nurses every day with iV injections for 2 weeks'

August 6th Had to get ambulance as she was on the floor and they said had Pneumoia sent home with 5 days antibiotics

Sept 14th she collapsed in in the bathroom early in the morning and I didn't find her for a while and called the ambulance again, She then had to have a short stay and came home with a nurse giving iV injections for 10 days until cleared. It has been a rough year and people cant seem to wonder why, she gets these infections some times over night,

[N123]

Hi there,

I'm really sorry that your wife hasn't been feeling well. Are the medical team/specialist giving her the right support?

I'm sure this all must take its toll on you so I hope you are looking after yourself too (physical and mental wellbeing).

[Hidden in reply to N123]

The wife has to go and follow up check up.

Thank you for message

[Hidden in reply to N123]

The back up seems to be OK ad have to go to a consultant 2weeks time. It has been a bit of struggle to come to terms with it but I have managed OK

[N123 in reply to Hidden]

I can imagine it can be overwhelming at times. It's great you've accessed this forum, hopefully we can all be an extra support for you and your wife.

Cofdrops's reply is good outline of what consultants and the care team should be doing.

Keep us posted.

N

[cofdrop-UK]

I am so sorry your wife has had such a difficult year but I am glad you have found us, as we do understand why she gets frequent infections which can come on very quickly.

Pseudomonas is a particularly nasty bacteria many of us bronchs have colonised in our lungs all the time. These don't always cause problems but do like to come out to play and cause problems. Some people with bronchiectasis take prophylactic antibiotics 1 three times a week. These are not given in a treatment dose but help to keep the bugs in hand. Some also nebulise antibiotics daily. Hopefully in your wife's case the 2 week IVs, which is a good choice of treatment, will eradicate the pseudo.

I am concerned that your wife was only given 5 days antibiotics. The latest guidelines suggest a 14 day course for bronchiectasis.

I hope your wife is under the care of a respiratory consultant who has a special interest in bronchiectasis. I assume she has had a scan since you have a diagnosis. Your con should do various tests and refer your wife to a respiratory physiotherapist to learn techniques for clearing her lungs, which she would have to do herself every day. She sounds like she needs a proper treatment plan. We could always try and find a consultant in your area but as we are not allowed to put names of particular docs on site, we could always pm you.

It's early days for you both but you will soon learn the signs and that you have to be your own advocate in getting good care.

love c x

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

She is under a consultant will be going.She does use a nebuliser with antibiotics prescription

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

We have been to see a different consultant today at Coventry Hospital and is going to collate all records from George Eliot Hospital .Hazel spent a log tome going through all she has had over the last year or so saying a lot of antibiotics and steroids last a while she has to go back on them. The Dr said she thinks the Bronchiectasis might have been for a while which has not helped Once all records are in place then she will formulate a management plan, Hopefully will be going to get somewhere now

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Hidden]

Good news. I am so pleased for you both. Hope things now improve for your wife, now you have a proactive consultant things should improve for her.

love cx

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Been a while since the last post.The wife is keeping well and see a different consultant who is very good.Went right through her past medical problems.The Dr said to try and leave off for a while using the antibiotics through a nebulizer, Seems to be OK but has to use the ordinary nebulizer but at least three times a day, Told her the bronchiectasis will never go away which we did know and if it flairs up bad it will mean hospital with intravenous antibiotics because the normal antibiotic will not get rid of it.That will take a bit more of her strength.Also, if Hazel has a busy morning she gets tired in the afternoon and needs a couple of hours sleep.That doesn' stop for a good nights sleep as well.Had to have a CT Scan for her Sinusitis as that could be a factor.The Dr did say that might have to have a test for cystic fibrosis from her childhood days, We will have to soldier on see how it goes

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Hidden]

thank you for letting us know how your wife is doing the codger. I am so pleased your wife now has a proactive consultant and things seem to be a bit more in control.

Please don’t worry about the, probably sweat test, for CF. It is quite painless and doesn’t take long. It is frequently done now for relatively new patients (if you have a good consultant) to eliminate CF as a cause.

Wishing you both the best and better health.

Cx

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

Just a quick update about the wife. She is keeping as well as possible I suppose. Hazel uses her nebulizer morning and evening and if she thinks it is needed during the day but in very rare cases then she does. She does have huffing and breathing in the morning and evening that takes around 20mins, Went to the consultant last week and told her that she is doing OK. All in all, it is going to be good as it gets.

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Hidden]

I am so pleased to hear your wife is doing ok. Glad too to hear she is managing to do the nebulising and physio. It’s a pain, but necessary to keep the status quo.

Thank you for the update and I hope things continue well for you both.

Cx

[Hidden in reply to cofdrop-UK]

It has been a while since been on the site mainly she has been reasonably decent time. Unfortunately over the last 12 months been a another bad session ,the last year has been somewhat a bad year with two trips to hospital twice and a really bad scare just before Christmas been rushed in by ambulance on siren and finished in resus with pneumonia and sepsis and did get over it but has knocked her back a bit. She went later to see a different consultant and after that he sent Hazel to sleep apnoea clinic the result it she now uses the machine. Just about getting that sorted out now .

[HungryHufflepuff in reply to Hidden]

Hopefully the machine will be helpful 🤞