The bronchoscopy at Kaiser went off without a hitch. Even though I was only mildly sedated, I don’t remember the procedure at all. I didn’t have any throat or nasal soreness afterwards, but I was very wiped out for the rest of the day. The preliminary results of my bronchoscopy did not show any fungal disease in my lungs. This is welcome news since fungal lung disease is a serious and potentially life-threatening disease among patients like me who have undergone the Carvykti version of CAR-T. The 10% mortality rate among Carvykti patients shows a high incidence of fungal lung disease.

Results are still pending from the specimen collected during the bronchoscopy that was sent out to be cultured. This usually takes a week or more. However, earlier today, I had a lengthy video appointment with Dr. Epstein, an Infectious Disease Specialist at Stanford. Based on the results of the bronchoscopy so far as well as CAT-scan and PET-scans, he did not think fungal disease was a likely cause of my current coughing and congestion. Dr. Epstein thinks there is a high probability of a bacterial infection – even though the antibiotics I took six weeks ago didn’t seem to help. It might be that the type(s) or amounts of bacteria in my lungs has changed from 6 weeks ago, so he wants me to try another antibiotic. He also recommended I drop two of the meds I've been taking for my cough as he didn't think they would be helpful. Dr. Epstein will discuss his assessment and recommendations with my Kaiser docs (whom he knows), and will check back with me in a week or so. This is a relief since I've been frustrated at the often erratic communication between Stanford and Kaiser concerning my care. Meanwhile, Dr. Green at Kaiser has scheduled me to see a Head and Neck Surgeon at Kaiser to evaluate my congestion and sinus inflammation.

Besides being fatigued, I'm also short of breath a lot of the time -- even doing minimal activities. I sure hope all these tests and evaluations are leading somewhere good.

Nambung National Park, Western Australia, 2017.