TB in covid times

Carol35

Carol35

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A brief history, I have googled and we will not use any advise given on this thread as gods word..we are under the care of a doctor BUT any thoughts or advise/ help would be hugely appreciated. He doesn’t have medical aid.

My son , 24 years old has been diagnosed as suspected TB..he has been ill for some time..lost an incredible amount of weight, severe fatigue, a persistent cough, negative covid tests, and this week started to cough up blood. This finally convinced him to go to the doctor. X rays and blood tests revealed a strong possibly of TB ( the doctor referral letter to the TB clinic stated high possibility of TB strain and a whole bunch of medical jargon I don’t understand)

Today he went to the recommended gov clinic with the referral, x ray results, blood test results , they barely glanced over the notes and told him to come back on the FEKKING 10th August!!!! WTF! Is this normal for a TB clinic, as far as I’m concerned, this is very urgent that he gets help ASAP??

His chest hurts ( lungs) and his phlegm is now orange and he must wait over 10 days? I called the doctor who treated us who has been great and we are going for a swap tomorrow morning for confirmation but if anyone has had TB before, any advice on the road ahead, any helpful tips, anything at this point would be really reassuring.

That being said, we are thankful it’s not the ugly C word which I thought could be the worst possible outcome but TB is doable.

Yes, in covid times, he probably had his tongue down the throat of someone dubious to passed it on to him but he swears blind it’s not true :sneaky:

Edited to add as in post #14 - he tested positive for TB.
 
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@Carol35 has a son that's 24.

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Carol35 said:
A brief history, I have googled and we will not use any advise given on this thread as gods word..we are under the care of a doctor BUT any thoughts or advise/ help would be hugely appreciated. He doesn’t have medical aid.

My son , 24 years old has been diagnosed as suspected TB..he has been ill for some time..lost an incredible amount of weight, severe fatigue, a persistent cough, negative covid tests, and this week started to cough up blood. This finally convinced him to go to the doctor. X rays and blood tests revealed a strong possibly of TB ( the doctor referral letter to the TB clinic stated high possibility of TB strain and a whole bunch of medical jargon I don’t understand)

Today he went to the recommended gov clinic with the referral, x ray results, blood test results , they barely glanced over the notes and told him to come back on the FEKKING 10th August!!!! WTF! Is this normal for a TB clinic, as far as I’m concerned, this is very urgent that he gets help ASAP??

His chest hurts ( lungs) and his phlegm is now orange and he must wait over 10 days? I called the doctor who treated us who has been great and we are going for a swap tomorrow morning for confirmation but if anyone has had TB before, any advice on the road ahead, any helpful tips, anything at this point would be really reassuring.

That being said, we are thankful it’s not the ugly C word which I thought could be the worst possible outcome but TB is doable.

Yes, in covid times, he probably had his tongue down the throat of someone dubious to passed it on to him but he swears blind it’s not true :sneaky:
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The phlegm thing sounds a bit worrying. Can't you get together some funding to get him to medicross or similar. They're like day clinics with medical equipment for diagnosis. It's not like he needs to be admitted. Shouldn't cost too much.
 
R13... said:
The phlegm thing sounds a bit worrying. Can't you get together some funding to get him to medicross or similar. They're like day clinics with medical equipment for diagnosis. It's not like he needs to be admitted. Shouldn't cost too much.
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Thank you..we have. I called the doctor right away and he said we should do the swab test ( he must put his phlegm into a jar) and drop off for testing at Pathcare which we are doing tomorrow. Even the doctor was surprised that my boy wasn’t tested right away or even swabbed - nothing at all was done. He even physically LOOKS ill - but they did nothing…just told him to come back on the 10th…I’m so worried about potential treatment..as far as I’m concerned, he should have been seen to right away never mind the fact his symptoms need to be allievated?
 
Carol35 said:
he probably had his tongue down the throat of someone dubious to passed it on to him but he swears blind it’s not true :sneaky:
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hmm. only dubious people get TB. didn't know that. do you realize if someone were to contract it from your son, your son would be a known dubious character
 
Carol35 said:
Thank you..we have. I called the doctor right away and he said we should do the swab test ( he must put his phlegm into a jar) and drop off for testing at Pathcare which we are doing tomorrow. Even the doctor was surprised that my boy wasn’t tested right away or even swabbed - nothing at all was done. He even physically LOOKS ill - but they did nothing…just told him to come back on the 10th…I’m so worried about potential treatment..as far as I’m concerned, he should have been seen to right away never mind the fact his symptoms need to be allievated?
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Welcome to state hospitals, that he only has to wait till the 10th August is probably a miracle, you can have late stage cancer and be told to come back in 2 months...

I highly suggest trying to get him into a budget medical aid, they actually aren't too expensive if you don't earn much, under R1000pm. That being said that is only a hospital plan but I think Tb is a prescribed minimum benefit so they will cover the treatment nevertheless.
 
competentblob said:
hmm. only dubious people get TB. didn't know that. do you realize if someone were to contract it from your son, your son would be a known dubious character
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Ahh man please.. It’s no secret that I have mentioned my sons wrong doing over this forum over the last few years. I meant that sentence as tongue in cheek, he somehow managed to get TB when he should have been practicing covid protocols. Sorry you didn’t find the humour.. kids do some really stupid stuff and kiss some really dodgy girls sometimes..I know as I was once a dodgy person…probably still am :sneaky:
 
for information purposes:
TB is is one of the slowest growing bacteria, if you are still sick 10 days later that is proof you have TB and not covid19 or the flu.

late stage(confirmed with lab tests)cancer needs hospice not an emergency department since it is a fatal regardless of what they do in the emergency department.
 
Carol35 said:
Ahh man please.. It’s no secret that I have mentioned my sons wrong doing over this forum over the last few years. I meant that sentence as tongue in cheek, he somehow managed to get TB when he should have been practicing covid protocols. Sorry you didn’t find the humour.. kids do some really stupid stuff and kiss some really dodgy girls sometimes..I know as I was once a dodgy person…probably still am :sneaky:
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ah. sorry wasn't aware of a posted history
 
I went for a test once, they put me on this humidifier and then slapped the crap out of my back to get the deep down phlegm. After that they also check x-rays to look for lung scarring etc.
 
buyeye said:
for information purposes:
TB is is one of the slowest growing bacteria, if you are still sick 10 days later that is proof you have TB and not covid19 or the flu.

late stage(confirmed with lab tests)cancer needs hospice not an emergency department since it is a fatal regardless of what they do in the emergency department.
Click to expand...
Lol thank you for that..it’s about the most helpful info I found out this week. :)

My boy tested positive for TB on Monday, treatment started yesterday. Besides what we have googled - getting first hand info off anyone who has been in the same boat has been zilch. Either TB is so rare, no one gets it or no one wants to talk about it. Anyhow, the TB clinic that we finally found in our area, started him on treatment immediately. Wow - what a long road we are in for. He looks and feels like shyte currently and the doctor did say things are going to get bad before they get better while the meds kick in but least there is a light, and he will get better eventually .

Naturally, at this point Covid will be deadly to him so I have really been drumming into his head to not act like an arse, do as he is told for once in his life, take his meds etc since his sister literally finished with covid last week.

If one more of my kids tell me that they have so much as a tooth ache, I may just have a fekking heart attack.

PS: Please, if you have had TB and have any useful info like diet, side effects ( the list is an arm long) and recovery…dos and donts, you welcome to message me if you don’t want to reply in public.
 
Carol35 said:
Lol thank you for that..it’s about the most helpful info I found out this week. :)

My boy tested positive for TB on Monday, treatment started yesterday. Besides what we have googled - getting first hand info off anyone who has been in the same boat has been zilch. Either TB is so rare, no one gets it or no one wants to talk about it. Anyhow, the TB clinic that we finally found in our area, started him on treatment immediately. Wow - what a long road we are in for. He looks and feels like shyte currently and the doctor did say things are going to get bad before they get better while the meds kick in but least there is a light, and he will get better eventually .

Naturally, at this point Covid will be deadly to him so I have really been drumming into his head to not act like an arse, do as he is told for once in his life, take his meds etc since his sister literally finished with covid last week.

If one more of my kids tell me that they have so much as a tooth ache, I may just have a fekking heart attack.

PS: Please, if you have had TB and have any useful info like diet, side effects ( the list is an arm long) and recovery…dos and donts, you welcome to message me if you don’t want to reply in public.
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TB is scary. The not much personal info online is probably because its predominantly a rural and township disease. I saw a lot of it when working in Umlazi and Madadeni, along with HIV and its results.

The problem with TB is there is a newish variant doing the rounds that is resistant to almost every known antibiotic. Too many people in the poor areas start treatment, start to feel better, and then stop treatment as they don't feel like schlepping to the clinic for the medication and after all they feel better now. The TB however was not completely gone and by ending treatment early it can get resistant to the antibiotics used. So depending on what variant he has it can be very difficult to treat and get rid of.

So most important thing is finish the course of medication, no matter how long that takes. Good luck otherwise.
 
Cius said:
TB is scary. The not much personal info online is probably because its predominantly a rural and township disease. I saw a lot of it when working in Umlazi and Madadeni, along with HIV and its results.
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Thanks so much for your reply. That’s the thing, nearly every comment I have seen has been people who have only seen TB in the townships, African countries or rural areas, not in the middle of suburbia.

I’m also curious as to why the clinic doesn’t seem concerned for the rest of our family, he got the results of the sputum test he took last week yesterday when he went for his check up and get his meds which showed positive 3+ - highly infectious. I don’t know what this means…how long has he been highly infectious, is he still highly infectious? Has he been spreading TB around for the last 6 months and could cause an outbreak - I know for a fact he has partied with friends, shared a bong probably, maybe drinks during the ban..been in close confines with girls, work collegues? He is no angel by any stretch. Who all should be concerned about this - who should we warn?

The clinic only told him we need to be screened if we show any symptoms and he can return to work next week. The lack of info is infuriating.
 
Just read our company TB Procedure. Nothing worthwhile in it, except they screen and treat it.
 
HunterNW said:
Just read our company TB Procedure. Nothing worthwhile in it, except they screen and treat it.
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Thank you…doesn’t seem to be “that” serious then about the effect on the rest of the company..god forbid someone gets covid, then I’m sure the procedure is different. Despite the fact for info I’ve read on google that at least 10 people died every hour for the 2019-2020 period of TB in South Africa. I honestly don’t want to make this a race thing but those stats were mostly for rural/ township areas meaning black people…why is there NO support for these people except for gov clinics where it’s in and out? My son whatsapped his nurse yesterday and was in and out in 10 minutes, they didn’t want him hanging around which is FINE because it’s a TB/Covid clinic, they don’t want people sitting around spreading sickness making things worse, I commend them for that..but why is there no support…why are people not talking about this?

Carol needs to start a FB support page and have no one join because they too scared :ROFL:
 
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