The Road to Diagnosis: Cindy’s Journey With Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis

(StatePoint) Cindy has always been active. As a physical education teacher, and later an elementary school principal, she built her career around helping others lead healthy, fulfilling lives. But behind that active lifestyle, she was on a decades-long search for answers about her respiratory health.

Bronchiectasis is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that can worsen over time. People living with the disease often experience symptoms such as a chronic cough, excess mucus, and recurrent lung infections that may overlap with other respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma. An estimated 500,000 adults in the United States are diagnosed with bronchiectasis, and it’s believed that even more may be living with the disease. Though bronchiectasis is chronic and irreversible, there are treatments and disease management plans for people living with the disease.