What a Difference a Week Makes

Last week, I was struggling with my bronchiectasis. I went to acupuncture on Wednesday, and felt a bit better. On my walk home, though, I struggled badly. I had to stop a few times before getting to the Whole Foods Market on Kirby and West Alabama, a few blocks away from the building where my acupuncturist has her office. I took a Lyft ride home from there, a bit saddened. Well, today, I went again and walked all the way home. Everything seems fine now, but what a rough week it was!

Before I describe my week and the problems I faced with my health, I want to remind everybody that I have written about bronchiectasis here before several times. You may have never heard of it or may not know what it is, but it is the disease that the Pope suffered and that contributed to his recent demise. I described here over a year ago how I was diagnosed with it in 2017 and was helped by acupuncture in 2019 into 2020, that I suffered some attacks after I got out of the hospital, how my biological mother suffers from the same disease, how my daughter suggested that I get to the "root cause" so that I could avoid taking antibiotics and steroids and how I had been doing much better after re-starting acupuncture a little over a year ago. I wrote about this in July.

I said then that I would probably face challenges again, and this was the first full-blown case that I have had since August of 2024. I am not exactly sure what happened then, but it hit when I was in NYC. I was with dogs there, and I missed a week of acupuncture. It was so bad at the end of August that I took a round of steroids (40mg per day, 5 days). This was right before my father passed away in early September.

I felt so fortunate to not have an attack for so long. I appreciate that steroids help me to control the swelling in my lungs, and I went from the end of August to mid-April with zero steroids. This was an incredibly long time for me. In mid-April, ahead of my wife's trip out of the country, I was concerned that my nose, stuffy from allergies, was going to lead to a flare-up, so, with my doctor's consent (and prescription), I took my 200mg over 5 days and was so much better immediately. I went on some long walks while Fran was away.

I was doing fine, but on Sunday, May 4th, after a long walk, I started to feel some wheezing and tightness in my chest in the evening. My doctor was away from her office, recovering from hip surgery. She had told me about this when I got the steroids prescription. I struggled with her office over the next week, beginning 5/13. Things were getting tough for me breathing-wise. On Thursday, 5/15, with still no help, I thought about going to the emergency room very late in the evening when I couldn't fall asleep. I needed oxygen! I did sleep for two hours on the couch, and on Friday at 6PM I finally got my medicine! Instant relief. Steroids can be dangerous, as I understand, but wow can they help.

My doctor will be returning next week, and I will see her in June. I know that she wants me to start Dupixent, an injection that is a biological drug, but I am in no hurry to start it. I have gotten some good feedback from the reports I have read and the discussions I have had with other doctors. Also, there is potentially a new drug to be approved by the FDA in August, Brensocatib (by Insmed) that I am interested in. It would be the first drug ever approved for bronchiectasis. Dupixent is approved from COPD and for eczema.

So, my goal here is to make sure everyone knows about bronchiectasis and to perhaps learn if there is a way to treat it that I might be missing!