Dear Doctor: Yesterday I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and although I am not coughing up blood I have extreme shortness of breath. Taking a shower causes me to be so out of breath that I have had to use my nasal cannula obviously hooked up to oxygen concentrator during my shower. Sometimes I feel like I can t clear my throat and suddenly I will vomit a large amount of mucous. How serious is this disease? I have read that once you have been diagnosed you have about a 6 to 8 year survival rate. Is this terminal and does it eventually turn to cancer? I have MGUS, RA and cryoglobulinemic vasculitis the latter caused by HCV. Since the 12 week Harvoni treatment, started on Mar 9, 2015, I ve been undetected since June of 2015. However, the cryoglobulinemia did not go away as it should have. So, how serious is the bronchiectasis and why has the cryoglobulinemic vasculitis still here? Thank you very much for your help. Katrina