I have gotten two comments about Olivia's bronchoscopy that has me wondering a couple of things of CF'ers and parents of CF'ers.
1. What age did you/your child start getting bronchoscopies?
2. How often do you get them done?
Olivia had her first bronch done in October when she was 7 1/2 months old. Her doctors wanted to do it because she had been fighting off a respiratory infection for two months. The mucous that they cleaned out of her lungs didn't grow anything abnormal, but they were surprised by the amount of mucous because her lungs sounded so clear. They told us to schedule her next one during the summer so that when she starts school (in about 4 years) her YEARLY BRONCH won't interfere.
7 comments:
When I read your previous post of Olivia's List, I wondered when Lainey would have her first bronchoscopy. She has never had one and after reading about the doctors being surprised by the amount of mucous Olivia had in her lungs, it worried me. They always say that Lainey's lungs sound clear! I will keep reading your comments so I can hopefully learn something as well!
DeAnn
I don't think our clinic does routine bronchs, at least no one has mentioned it to us. Seamus has had only one exacerbation that required IV antibiotics so maybe they don't think he needs then yet.
I'm with DeAnn, now I'm wondering if he has lots of gunk building up even though he usually sounds clear.
Sawyer has never had a bronchoscopy and he is 5 years old. No one at clinic has ever mentioned it either. When he was in the hospital at 11 months old they were going to do one but then he got so much better before the day it was scheduled so they didn't do it.
I've never had a bronch and I'm 27. My CF related lung issues just started appearing 3-4 years ago though. I'm glad Olivia's doctors are so thorough!
I feel very fortunate to have the Care Team that we have. They tell you right out that they are aggressive, but I believe that will keep our Tooter's healthy for a long time!
You can check out your center's specific data here: http://www.cff.org/CCNP/CareCenterSelector/index.cfm?state=ALL
Wow.. yearly bronchs? I always find aggressiveness in docs to be a good thing. I just had no idea they did regular bronchs on CFers pre-tx. I think it's a really great idea though. You definitely catch things in a bronch a lot quicker than you would if you waited for symptoms to appear.
Your mom met Hugh Jackman??? What a lucky gal. :)
I never had a bronch pre-transplant and my pediatric and adult CF center do not do bronchs on patients on a routine basis. There has to be a serious condition for them to perform one and none of my fellow CF friends have had one. When I read that Olivia had one and that they wanted to do another one...I was shocked! Although they have become a routine procedure, they do pose risks. But I can see the benefits from them as well if you have a lot of mucous and for the little ones...it's difficult to clean that out. I've had many post-tx, but never before.
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