Upcoming CF Clinic

We will head back to CF Clinic for a follow- up on Wednesday. Madeline will get a full check up
followed up a throat swab (culture) to see if Pseudo has decided to grow back or stay away for awhile. We are very hopeful that the beast is gone and will leave Madeline alone for a bit. But of course, there are always worries with CF.....

Our first negative throat culture for Pseudo in over a year came last month. We do know that Madeline had her IV pulled (antibiotics were completed that day over 2 weeks) when she got a negative culture. It seems appropriate to think that the Pseudo did indeed die off from those 2 weeks of antibiotics....but the question still remains...Did a bit of it stay in there and did it potentially grow back?

This is a question that a lot of cf parents/families ask: When you culture Pseudo , treat it with antibiotics, and get a negative result is the Pseudo really completely gone? This is sometimes the million dollar question. We have had some doctors, parents, and medical staff say that No, it cannot all die off. Pseudo just remains dormant and has the possibility of flaring up in months or even years. So even though you may not culture it, there is a chance it is still in there. Others say: Once you get rid of it with many negative cultures in a row (usually 3) it is usually rid from your body.

Looking at Madeline I would think that there is no way possible Pseudo is in her system. She weighs  nearly 37 pounds now at 3 years old. She has been gaining weight incredibly well and, she has chubby cheeks to prove it. Her energy is great and, she has no cough. She simply acts and looks amazing but, we also know that CF doesn't always show every side.

This culture will explain some of this- but not all of our questions. It is true that most clinics like to see patients that have 3 or more negative culture before they declare their cf patients "officially Pseudo free."
We know that we have one negative culture down and we are hopeful that this 2nd one on Wednesday will prove that we are getting closer to being "official."