How do I know if my sputum culture is getting extensively checked?

[JustDucky]

I have my sputum tested frequently and when I do, I always ask for a copy of the results which shows how colonized I am as well as the sensitivites. The doc usually flags the sample as CF sputum, so the lab looks for B. cepacia, MAC, all of the bugs. I like to know exactly what I am growing and quantity as well. When I am ill, it is no surprise that my samples contain very high amounts of B. cepacia as well as staph or some other cootie, but mostly the cepacia. In the lab that my sputum is sent, the gram stain will either show scant to +4 which is alot for quantity, then once the bug is ID'ed, it will show how much of the sample is that bug. The sensitivities are good to look at, shows what I am resistant to, which is almost everything as far as my cepacia goes. My doc actually adds different antibiotics to test for sensitivites for because there are so few that will work for my cepacia (steno is also problematic with me). I have to check about price, but I don't think it is a very expensive test to do in comparison to a test like Ambry which does cost quite a bit. I think my doc said that it was one of the cheaper tests as it is an automated test, not done like I had to do in my micro class which was labor intensive. But, it shouldn't matter, like you said, that is why we have insurance.

Ironically, the one antibiotic that my cepacia is sensitive to is Cipro, unfortunately, I am severely allergic to the drug...bummer, as there are no other drugs that will work by mouth, so IV's it is when I start to get sick. I too learn alot from this site, there is always a question that someone asks that makes me stop and think.

 

[JustDucky]

I have my sputum tested frequently and when I do, I always ask for a copy of the results which shows how colonized I am as well as the sensitivites. The doc usually flags the sample as CF sputum, so the lab looks for B. cepacia, MAC, all of the bugs. I like to know exactly what I am growing and quantity as well. When I am ill, it is no surprise that my samples contain very high amounts of B. cepacia as well as staph or some other cootie, but mostly the cepacia. In the lab that my sputum is sent, the gram stain will either show scant to +4 which is alot for quantity, then once the bug is ID'ed, it will show how much of the sample is that bug. The sensitivities are good to look at, shows what I am resistant to, which is almost everything as far as my cepacia goes. My doc actually adds different antibiotics to test for sensitivites for because there are so few that will work for my cepacia (steno is also problematic with me). I have to check about price, but I don't think it is a very expensive test to do in comparison to a test like Ambry which does cost quite a bit. I think my doc said that it was one of the cheaper tests as it is an automated test, not done like I had to do in my micro class which was labor intensive. But, it shouldn't matter, like you said, that is why we have insurance.

Ironically, the one antibiotic that my cepacia is sensitive to is Cipro, unfortunately, I am severely allergic to the drug...bummer, as there are no other drugs that will work by mouth, so IV's it is when I start to get sick. I too learn alot from this site, there is always a question that someone asks that makes me stop and think.

 

[lightNlife]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://understandingcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/2007/06/sensitivity-testing-and-antibiotics.html">http://understandingcysticfibr...g-and-antibiotics.html</a>

 

[lightNlife]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://understandingcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/2007/06/sensitivity-testing-and-antibiotics.html">http://understandingcysticfibr...g-and-antibiotics.html</a>

 

[lightNlife]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://understandingcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/2007/06/sensitivity-testing-and-antibiotics.html">http://understandingcysticfibr...g-and-antibiotics.html</a>

 

[lightNlife]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://understandingcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/2007/06/sensitivity-testing-and-antibiotics.html">http://understandingcysticfibr...g-and-antibiotics.html</a>

 

[lightNlife]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://understandingcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/2007/06/sensitivity-testing-and-antibiotics.html">http://understandingcysticfibr...g-and-antibiotics.html</a>

 

[lightNlife]

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://understandingcysticfibrosis.blogspot.com/2007/06/sensitivity-testing-and-antibiotics.html">http://understandingcysticfibr...g-and-antibiotics.html</a>

 

[littlemisssilly]

Not sure if it's the same with you gut in the US but our regular 'sputum culture and sensitivity' lab requests do NOT screen for mycobacterium (MAC etc) and / or fungal cultures as part of the regular screenig. Therefore, the doctor that writes the request form must request a further mycobacterum and fungal culture otherwise the lab just does regular screen for bacteria such as staph, pseudo, cepacia etc.

This is important for me because although my CF specialists adds these extra requests in, other doctors which aren't too familiar with CF (like doctors in the emergency rooms etc) will not. Fungal cultures take a few weeks to complete because fungus is so slow growing.

 

[littlemisssilly]

Not sure if it's the same with you gut in the US but our regular 'sputum culture and sensitivity' lab requests do NOT screen for mycobacterium (MAC etc) and / or fungal cultures as part of the regular screenig. Therefore, the doctor that writes the request form must request a further mycobacterum and fungal culture otherwise the lab just does regular screen for bacteria such as staph, pseudo, cepacia etc.

This is important for me because although my CF specialists adds these extra requests in, other doctors which aren't too familiar with CF (like doctors in the emergency rooms etc) will not. Fungal cultures take a few weeks to complete because fungus is so slow growing.

 

[littlemisssilly]

Not sure if it's the same with you gut in the US but our regular 'sputum culture and sensitivity' lab requests do NOT screen for mycobacterium (MAC etc) and / or fungal cultures as part of the regular screenig. Therefore, the doctor that writes the request form must request a further mycobacterum and fungal culture otherwise the lab just does regular screen for bacteria such as staph, pseudo, cepacia etc.

This is important for me because although my CF specialists adds these extra requests in, other doctors which aren't too familiar with CF (like doctors in the emergency rooms etc) will not. Fungal cultures take a few weeks to complete because fungus is so slow growing.

 

[littlemisssilly]

Not sure if it's the same with you gut in the US but our regular 'sputum culture and sensitivity' lab requests do NOT screen for mycobacterium (MAC etc) and / or fungal cultures as part of the regular screenig. Therefore, the doctor that writes the request form must request a further mycobacterum and fungal culture otherwise the lab just does regular screen for bacteria such as staph, pseudo, cepacia etc.

This is important for me because although my CF specialists adds these extra requests in, other doctors which aren't too familiar with CF (like doctors in the emergency rooms etc) will not. Fungal cultures take a few weeks to complete because fungus is so slow growing.

 

[littlemisssilly]

Not sure if it's the same with you gut in the US but our regular 'sputum culture and sensitivity' lab requests do NOT screen for mycobacterium (MAC etc) and / or fungal cultures as part of the regular screenig. Therefore, the doctor that writes the request form must request a further mycobacterum and fungal culture otherwise the lab just does regular screen for bacteria such as staph, pseudo, cepacia etc.

This is important for me because although my CF specialists adds these extra requests in, other doctors which aren't too familiar with CF (like doctors in the emergency rooms etc) will not. Fungal cultures take a few weeks to complete because fungus is so slow growing.

 

[littlemisssilly]

Not sure if it's the same with you gut in the US but our regular 'sputum culture and sensitivity' lab requests do NOT screen for mycobacterium (MAC etc) and / or fungal cultures as part of the regular screenig. Therefore, the doctor that writes the request form must request a further mycobacterum and fungal culture otherwise the lab just does regular screen for bacteria such as staph, pseudo, cepacia etc.

This is important for me because although my CF specialists adds these extra requests in, other doctors which aren't too familiar with CF (like doctors in the emergency rooms etc) will not. Fungal cultures take a few weeks to complete because fungus is so slow growing.

 

[luke]

Lauren,

One question you need to ask is not only what they check for but how they are growing it. My understanding that in order to truly cultivate and culture our bugs the lab has to use the old methods and wait it out. If the lab you go to isn't used to dealing with a CF culture than they probably aren't doing you justice. My doctors will go so far as to write CF specimen on the order to make sure the lab places it on the right medium and gives it a longer cultivation time. One other thing..if you ever do grow a "cepacia" type bacteria you need to make sure they send it to a specialty lab. All of my reports here show I have B. Cepacia but upon futher testing it is a really rare bug that isn't cepacia at all. One last thought...if you ever grow a multi resistant bug insist they send your culture for synergy testing where they try different combo's of drugs together rather than just one at a time.

 

[luke]

Lauren,

One question you need to ask is not only what they check for but how they are growing it. My understanding that in order to truly cultivate and culture our bugs the lab has to use the old methods and wait it out. If the lab you go to isn't used to dealing with a CF culture than they probably aren't doing you justice. My doctors will go so far as to write CF specimen on the order to make sure the lab places it on the right medium and gives it a longer cultivation time. One other thing..if you ever do grow a "cepacia" type bacteria you need to make sure they send it to a specialty lab. All of my reports here show I have B. Cepacia but upon futher testing it is a really rare bug that isn't cepacia at all. One last thought...if you ever grow a multi resistant bug insist they send your culture for synergy testing where they try different combo's of drugs together rather than just one at a time.

 

[luke]

Lauren,

One question you need to ask is not only what they check for but how they are growing it. My understanding that in order to truly cultivate and culture our bugs the lab has to use the old methods and wait it out. If the lab you go to isn't used to dealing with a CF culture than they probably aren't doing you justice. My doctors will go so far as to write CF specimen on the order to make sure the lab places it on the right medium and gives it a longer cultivation time. One other thing..if you ever do grow a "cepacia" type bacteria you need to make sure they send it to a specialty lab. All of my reports here show I have B. Cepacia but upon futher testing it is a really rare bug that isn't cepacia at all. One last thought...if you ever grow a multi resistant bug insist they send your culture for synergy testing where they try different combo's of drugs together rather than just one at a time.

 

[luke]

Lauren,

One question you need to ask is not only what they check for but how they are growing it. My understanding that in order to truly cultivate and culture our bugs the lab has to use the old methods and wait it out. If the lab you go to isn't used to dealing with a CF culture than they probably aren't doing you justice. My doctors will go so far as to write CF specimen on the order to make sure the lab places it on the right medium and gives it a longer cultivation time. One other thing..if you ever do grow a "cepacia" type bacteria you need to make sure they send it to a specialty lab. All of my reports here show I have B. Cepacia but upon futher testing it is a really rare bug that isn't cepacia at all. One last thought...if you ever grow a multi resistant bug insist they send your culture for synergy testing where they try different combo's of drugs together rather than just one at a time.

 

[luke]

Lauren,

One question you need to ask is not only what they check for but how they are growing it. My understanding that in order to truly cultivate and culture our bugs the lab has to use the old methods and wait it out. If the lab you go to isn't used to dealing with a CF culture than they probably aren't doing you justice. My doctors will go so far as to write CF specimen on the order to make sure the lab places it on the right medium and gives it a longer cultivation time. One other thing..if you ever do grow a "cepacia" type bacteria you need to make sure they send it to a specialty lab. All of my reports here show I have B. Cepacia but upon futher testing it is a really rare bug that isn't cepacia at all. One last thought...if you ever grow a multi resistant bug insist they send your culture for synergy testing where they try different combo's of drugs together rather than just one at a time.

 

[luke]

Lauren,

One question you need to ask is not only what they check for but how they are growing it. My understanding that in order to truly cultivate and culture our bugs the lab has to use the old methods and wait it out. If the lab you go to isn't used to dealing with a CF culture than they probably aren't doing you justice. My doctors will go so far as to write CF specimen on the order to make sure the lab places it on the right medium and gives it a longer cultivation time. One other thing..if you ever do grow a "cepacia" type bacteria you need to make sure they send it to a specialty lab. All of my reports here show I have B. Cepacia but upon futher testing it is a really rare bug that isn't cepacia at all. One last thought...if you ever grow a multi resistant bug insist they send your culture for synergy testing where they try different combo's of drugs together rather than just one at a time.