advice please

hi i used to post on the old site. but am just coming back because a lot has changed in my life and i need some advice if thats at all possible??

first i have bad asthma on sub cut................... but i dont want to go on about that. my aunty jaycie who i think has been here before is a brittle asthma now been diagnosed with bronciextiseses i cannot spell this but it goes something like that i am just woundring has she always had this or is it developed due to her asthma or is it been this all along and not asthma? aslo i am living with my uncle and aunty who have two young sons with my sister due to family curcumstances and am finding very difficult to be ill myself when my uncle is worried anout aunty jaycie and then grandparents who treatme like i am two years old how can i get it across to them that i do not need there help when doing neb and the lot i have spoken nice to them and explained i had to do it by my self for some time and will let them know when i need more help like the doc or blue lights i know trhgis may sound not to nice but i feel like i am not to be ill any more and today i was finding it hard with my nebs abd sub cut and ended up rining my nurse as my nanna said she hadnt time as she had to deal with the three young ones. so there i was not able to talk well and my nurse did come and then had a word with my nan but it hasnt gone in i really dont want to upset my uncle as my aunt is still unwell untill my dad arrives home from work abroad i have to be hear with his brother and i hate it. thanks for reading this spider

[Hidden]

Hi spiderlungs, it sounds like you have a lot to cope with at a young age. I am sorry to hear about everything you have been going through.

To try to answer your questions -

Bronchiectasis is a condition where the airways become chronically inflammed, thickened and narrowed, with lots of phlegm, and this makes people more prone to infections in the damaged area. It's usually caused by severe or recurrent infections in the past, and it's a lot less common than it used to be now that we have good antibiotic treatment for most infections. It does happen sometimes in asthmatics who get a lot of chest infections, and of course being on prednisolone and other drugs which damp down the body's immune response doesn't help.

Without seeing your Auntie's medical records, it's difficult to say how much of her problems are due to bronchiectasis and how much asthma, and I certainly wouldn't want to second-guess her doctors. I strongly suspect, though, that she does have brittle asthma too - bronchiectasis can produce airflow obstruction, due to the narrowing of the airways by the thickened walls, giving 'asthma-type' symptoms of wheeze, tight chest etc, but the wheeze is usually less severe, less episodic and acute in onset, and less reversible than it can be in brittle asthma. If doctors in the past have seen her having an attack and felt that it was asthma, it probably was. It's not really possible to say whether she's had bronchiectasis for a long time as well (it can result from an infection in childhood) and how much it's contributing to her symptoms. Her own doctors should be able to give you more information though.

The good news is that bronchiectasis symptoms can often be improved by regular physiotherapy and sometimes by taking regular tablet or nebulised antibiotics to prevent recurrent infections. If your aunty has been suffering from recurrent chest infections which have been triggering her asthma, she might well find that her asthma is a bit better controlled once the bronchiectasis is treated.

Your family situation sounds difficult... and it sounds like you are doing a good job of coping with it and looking after your own health too. It must be very difficult for you, and I'm afraid I don't have any specific advice but I can empathise a bit with what you are going through. I have brittle asthma too and my family seem to alternate between treating me like a two year old (and I am 28!) and forgetting anything is wrong with me (expecting me to climb two flights of stairs and go into my sister's bedroom, which is full of cigarette smoke, to check out her sore throat for her!). Do you have someone in or outside of the family who you can talk to and confide in? I notice from your profile that you are having home schooling - I guess that rules out the school nurse or counseller but do you have a teacher who comes to see you at home, and could you talk to him/her? I think it's very important to have someone to talk to who is not directly involved in family life. In my case, I tend to moan to my husband about my family until he is sick of it! This board is a good sounding off place too, although it's always nice to have a real person there too.

I really hope things improve for you soon, and you know where we are. Keep us updated on your aunty too - I remember her a bit from when she used to post.

Take care

Em H

[Hidden]

thanks emily my tutor is jen and i have had her a while know she help me through my mum and stuff last year she cool, but i dont always feel like talking to her sometimes i start work again monday so i may bend her ear abit. i do have a very close friend from when i was at school but shes a way for her whole six week holiday at the moment. thank you very much for all the advice and the medical stuff i think i understand it better, its just all the stuff on the web is ok but its better to ask people who have it or understand it more. thank you hope you are feeling well today

spider