ACTIVE TUBERCULOSIS

[ladyladyx 0]

Yes! as in Yes! I have an ACTIVE TB!  "and it's infectious"! That was the word that hit me hard to my bones when i return for pulmonary evaluation 2 weeks after my sputum test! I almost die!  It was heart breaking.. I feel being tortured mentally. Went home told my family to see a doctor asap because i have a Tb. Everybody was in shocked  -- I don't have symptoms at all. I don't have cough or anything. This sputum test is getting me sick but i slowly accepted it. I learn not to expect too much, never assume, never complain, never ask..  just go with the flow of life..  Anyway my family members don't have TB. The next day i went to the Doctor a Pulmonologist  , got another xray and other tests. told him i have an active tb as saint Luke's told me. he then see my xray film and smile at me. He said " u have active tb? i said yes! and what is in my xray film? he said NOTHING! its just a small thing. I said but i need 6 months medication i need your help so i can get medicine and medical certificate he said ok.. he said maybe u have some "sensitivity"  i said what is that? he said never mind and gave me prescription and instructions. told me to come back after a month or if i feel anything not normal. --- I am taking this now religiously every morning 1 hour before breakfast. Do i feel some side effects? NO nothing. Am I getting better? NO! i don't know, i don't feel sick anyway.  How's my appetite to eat? It's the same. --- Yesterday I got a call from saint Luke's again told me to come back to saint Luke's because the doctor wants to talk to me about my culture result. I am so afraid now!!! Lots of things on my mind...  Does any of you have an idea why the doctor wants to talk to me about my culture result. My 8 weeks of culture is suppose to end on the first week of February. I'm really worried how if  the doctor will say i have few days to live! I will have heart attack!

Edited January 19, 2018 by ladyladyx

[TBoneTX 43,058]

Thread is moved from Off Topic to the Philippines forum.

[Hank_ 9,173]

SLEC contacted you to come in to meet with the doctor there, but instead you went to a private doctor?  So St. Luke's contacted you a 2nd time to come in and you still haven't returned?

 

SLEC must follow CDC guidelines and will process accordingly.    Do keep St Luke's informed as to any outside medications you have been taking.   The medication for DOT from St. Luke's is included in the medical fee you paid... no additional charge.

 

As for X-rays, the x-ray machines at St. Luke's are light years ahead of most anything at the average doctor's office or lab in the Philippines so I would give little credence to an "outside" X-ray.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2018 by Hank_

[ladyladyx 0]

3 hours ago, Hank_ said:

SLEC contacted you to come in to meet with the doctor there, but instead you went to a private doctor?  So St. Luke's contacted you a 2nd time to come in and you still haven't returned?

 

SLEC must follow CDC guidelines and will process accordingly.    Do keep St Luke's informed as to any outside medications you have been taking.   The medication for DOT from St. Luke's is included in the medical fee you paid... no additional charge.

 

As for X-rays, the x-ray machines at St. Luke's are light years ahead of most anything at the average doctor's office or lab in the Philippines so I would give little credence to an "outside" X-ray.

 

 

Saint Luke's gave me an option if i want to have medication outside saint Lukes i will need to let them know that i already taking medicine mail them my doctor's certification through LBC which i already did. I will go back to saint lukes on monday, since Im an hour flight from manila i could not just jump to the plane right away and its saturday today no clinic and sunday tomorrow.. 

[Hank_ 9,173]

Sound like you have a handle on everything.    

 

 

[Greenbaum 12,258]

I am not trying to make your life more stressful than it already is but you must read and understand the following that came from 

 

 

"If both the smear and MTB culture test revealed positive result, applicant will be required to undergo treatment here in our facility, if you decided to have the treatment done in the province, a repeat medical exam will be required, but you will have to wait 1 year after treatment outside is completed. This means that, applicant has to wait an additional 1 year after the end of acceptable TB treatment before doing the repeat medical examination."

 

I would recommend that you ask questions when you arrive at SLEC if this is still valid. Once you have confirmation and any additional information you will be able to make the right decision for you.  Good luck

 

BTW - please return back to this thread and update us to what you found out. This way we have up to date information from which others can have a good idea what they will face if indeed this happens to them. Kind of way of giving back to the "community" if you will. 

[ladyladyx 0]

1 hour ago, Greenbaum said:

I am not trying to make your life more stressful than it already is but you must read and understand the following that came from 

 

 

"If both the smear and MTB culture test revealed positive result, applicant will be required to undergo treatment here in our facility, if you decided to have the treatment done in the province, a repeat medical exam will be required, but you will have to wait 1 year after treatment outside is completed. This means that, applicant has to wait an additional 1 year after the end of acceptable TB treatment before doing the repeat medical examination."

 

I would recommend that you ask questions when you arrive at SLEC if this is still valid. Once you have confirmation and any additional information you will be able to make the right decision for you.  Good luck

 

BTW - please return back to this thread and update us to what you found out. This way we have up to date information from which others can have a good idea what they will face if indeed this happens to them. Kind of way of giving back to the "community" if you will. 

Well the doctor told me this: If you choose to have treatment outside saint luke's you need to submit doctor's certificate through LBC. Update medical certificate before 6 months. Repeat medical after 6 months, if they find  the medicine  i got meet the standard of saint lukes then Im good. But if not, there's  another 6 months observation. (THAT IS 3 SPUTUM TESTS)CLEAR!  meaning 1 year all.  Well that's what the doctor told me. Not sure what the doctor told others.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

10 hours ago, ladyladyx said:

Well the doctor told me this: If you choose to have treatment outside saint luke's you need to submit doctor's certificate through LBC. Update medical certificate before 6 months. Repeat medical after 6 months, if they find  the medicine  i got meet the standard of saint lukes then Im good. But if not, there's  another 6 months observation. (THAT IS 3 SPUTUM TESTS)CLEAR!  meaning 1 year all.  Well that's what the doctor told me. Not sure what the doctor told others.

Well, what was told to you is exactly what stated. Now consider this. If you want to shave off 6 months then stay in zmanila and complete the regiment wit SLEC or go the other way and do the treatment with your private Dr. Good luck with your decision.

[Balamban 113]

I'll agree with Greenbaum.

 

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this I can imagine it was quite a shock.

 

You will not die this year, or next year or even ten years from TB.  Left untreated you might die from in when you are sixty though.  You have a problem that many have and it is excellent that 1) you now know about it and 2) the experts at St Luke WILL tell you how to rid yourself of the infection in a way that is acceptable to them.

 

Facts: An estimated 200,000 to 600,000 Filipinos have active TB.  293 Filipinos out of 100,000 are being infected every year.  About 90% will NEVER develop symptoms.   Many millions of Filipinos have latent TB.  Latent TB may never become active but the risk is there.   TB is a world-wide problem.  It is still a problem in America.

 

Tuberculosis is a mycobacterium.  This type of bacteria is much, much harder to kill than most bacteria.  They say you have “active” bacteria in the sputum test.  This means that they took some of your sputum and placed it on a plate with nutrients and put it in an incubator.  The few mycobacteria that were in the sputum grew and grew until there were tens of thousands.  These are then analyzed.  Therefore, there has been no mistake.

 

Now for the good news:  Get treated properly and in time ALL TB bacteria in your body will die, you will be cured and you will live happily ever after.  It is that simple.  The problem is this:  You feel fine.  If you feel fine, many think : why bother with taking so many pills?  Therefore, some never start and many never finish the medication regime and they end up still having active or latent TB.

 

There is zero point in saying anything about your doctor or your pulmonologist, good or bad.  Though what I hear from what you say makes me cringe.   St. Lukes runs under American mandate meaning they do exactly what the USA demands.  They do NOT trust any other doctor or medical facility, period--unless they know them.  You could go to 5 doctors and take five sets of meds, they do not care.  Deal with them or have your visa delayed and maybe delayed again.  .  Comply or never come to America.  It is that simple, or unfortunately that complex.

 

If I was you and I could (economically speaking), I would work closely with St Lukes and do what makes them happy but still gets you the visa in the shortest amount of time.  If you cannot go to St. Luke’s consider asking St. Luke’s for a doctor in your area that St Luke’s trust.  It is possible that you could do a shorter drug regime and in that case, they might clear you in several months, not six or more months.  I am not a doctor but I think that it is unlikely that you even need a pulmonologist and a Public Health doctor affiliated with the Philippine government and therefore with St Luke’s might be a better option (ask St Lukes).  That  is not a suggestion rather something that you might use when you talk with St Lukes to see what can be done in the shortest amount of time.

 

Yes, you are infectious but TB does not transmit easily, still you might want to take some precautions especially with sick, elderly, children or people that you get physically close to.

 

This is a good source (I think): From: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250

 

Protect your family and friends

 

If you have active TB, keep your germs to yourself. It generally takes a few weeks of treatment with TB medications before you're not contagious anymore. Follow these tips to help keep your friends and family from getting sick:

 

 Stay home. Don't go to work or school or sleep in a room with other people during the first few weeks of treatment for active tuberculosis.  Ventilate the room. Tuberculosis germs spread more easily in small closed spaces where air doesn't move. If it's not too cold outdoors, open the windows and use a fan to blow indoor air outside.    Cover your mouth. Use a tissue to cover your mouth anytime you laugh, sneeze or cough. Put the dirty tissue in a bag, seal it and throw it away.    Wear a mask. Wearing a surgical mask when you're around other people during the first three weeks of treatment may help lessen the risk of transmission.

 

Finish your entire course of medication

 

This is the most important step you can take to protect yourself and others from tuberculosis. When you stop treatment early or skip doses, TB bacteria have a chance to develop mutations that allow them to survive the most potent TB drugs. The resulting drug-resistant strains are much more deadly and difficult to treat.

 

If you’ve been intimate with your partner you can either continue or wait the few weeks after starting medication.  Let your partner know and their doc might do one of the new tests such as the QFT-G and may repeat it perhaps 6 months after you are done with your med regime.

 

Again, I’m not a medical Practitioner, so this is simply thoughts and information.  Always rely on your doctor (or in this case St Lukes).