Swimming in lakes

[creation301]

We have this discussion every summer...are pools really any better than a lake?  I know that pools are treated and lakes obviously are not, with that said, there are still tons of PA and other bigger bacterias found in swimming pools. Just curious.<div><br></div><div>So the question, do you let your child swim in a (murky or clear) lake?  Our doctors have said no, but they would also tell us not to ever use a public bathroom (as if that is possible).  Any stories that you could share would be helpful.  We are going on vacation this next week and there are lakes all around. =(  </div><div><br></div><div>I know we can't guard against each and every threat, and we frankly don't want to, however, if there are really good reasons... then it is worth the effort.  (We know that our child "could" stand by the divider in the interstate and probably stay safe...but why would we put her in that position?  Same question with lakes.)</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you for your input. </div>

 

[creation301]

We have this discussion every summer...are pools really any better than a lake? I know that pools are treated and lakes obviously are not, with that said, there are still tons of PA and other bigger bacterias found in swimming pools. Just curious.<br>So the question, do you let your child swim in a (murky or clear) lake? Our doctors have said no, but they would also tell us not to ever use a public bathroom (as if that is possible). Any stories that you could share would be helpful. We are going on vacation this next week and there are lakes all around. =( <br>I know we can't guard against each and every threat, and we frankly don't want to, however, if there are really good reasons... then it is worth the effort. (We know that our child "could" stand by the divider in the interstate and probably stay safe...but why would we put her in that position? Same question with lakes.)<br>Thank you for your input.

 

[creation301]

We have this discussion every summer...are pools really any better than a lake? I know that pools are treated and lakes obviously are not, with that said, there are still tons of PA and other bigger bacterias found in swimming pools. Just curious.<br>So the question, do you let your child swim in a (murky or clear) lake? Our doctors have said no, but they would also tell us not to ever use a public bathroom (as if that is possible). Any stories that you could share would be helpful. We are going on vacation this next week and there are lakes all around. =( <br>I know we can't guard against each and every threat, and we frankly don't want to, however, if there are really good reasons... then it is worth the effort. (We know that our child "could" stand by the divider in the interstate and probably stay safe...but why would we put her in that position? Same question with lakes.)<br>Thank you for your input.

 

[mamaScarlett]

Sorry, I always swam in lakes, pools, ocean, rivers. We were never told to not swim in anything in particular. I have pseudo of course, as pretty many cfers do. I also have b cep, but we know where I caught that from (years ago at a philadelphia hospital where they were still phasing out shared rooms).<br>I can totally understand your concerns, being a parent myself. But in this case I truly believe that the exercise benefits from any type of swimming would far outweigh the tiny risk of bacteria. Growing up I was encouraged to do any type of physical movement-including carrying heavy loads of firewood into the house when it was 25 degrees out, just like my brothers were doing. lol My point is we were never told to refrain from most activities, as long as I felt up to it.<br>Just my 2 cents.<br>

 

[mamaScarlett]

Sorry, I always swam in lakes, pools, ocean, rivers. We were never told to not swim in anything in particular. I have pseudo of course, as pretty many cfers do. I also have b cep, but we know where I caught that from (years ago at a philadelphia hospital where they were still phasing out shared rooms).<br>I can totally understand your concerns, being a parent myself. But in this case I truly believe that the exercise benefits from any type of swimming would far outweigh the tiny risk of bacteria. Growing up I was encouraged to do any type of physical movement-including carrying heavy loads of firewood into the house when it was 25 degrees out, just like my brothers were doing. lol My point is we were never told to refrain from most activities, as long as I felt up to it.<br>Just my 2 cents.<br>

 

[mamaScarlett]

Sorry, I always swam in lakes, pools, ocean, rivers. We were never told to not swim in anything in particular. I have pseudo of course, as pretty many cfers do. I also have b cep, but we know where I caught that from (years ago at a philadelphia hospital where they were still phasing out shared rooms).<br>I can totally understand your concerns, being a parent myself. But in this case I truly believe that the exercise benefits from any type of swimming would far outweigh the tiny risk of bacteria. Growing up I was encouraged to do any type of physical movement-including carrying heavy loads of firewood into the house when it was 25 degrees out, just like my brothers were doing. lol My point is we were never told to refrain from most activities, as long as I felt up to it.<br>Just my 2 cents.<br>

 

[LouLou]

Personally I think it depends on the lake. Is it near a lot of agricultural run off (not good for pesticides, fertilizers and fecal contamination). Is there a lot of development around the lake? Also, not good because where there are people there are contaminants. I live on a lake and through inside sources have been told not to swim in it because there's raw sewage in it. The town does not disclose this and I'm pretty sure the only place where they check contaminate levels are at the beach. When the numbers are high they blame the geese. Yey right! The lake I speak of is over boated (not good). Is the lake you are considering quite clear...can you still see the bottom 12 ft out? I swam in a lake at a summer camp as a kid. It was spring fed and naturally created. I'm leary of all man made lakes. Are they even called lakes? Water should be exchanging. Spring fed in and spring out. Sorry for the complicated answer but thats where I'm at with my lake thinking at age 32 with cf. I also began culturing PA at age 2. I grew up on another lake that was not as clear as the summer camp lake I visited but still was not boated or over developed. It was also natural. Does your kid already culture PA? If so I would evaluate whether you think it's a clear lake and go for it. If not, well then I would consider that it's a good chance they will get PA from it and you'll have to do Tobi on off. I've been inhaling Tobra since before Tobi existed. It's a major suck on time in my life but I'm used to it. From the sounds of it on this site though it's very emotionally and physically draining to have to deal with the abx regimen once they have a + culture for PA. Decisions. decisions. As far as pools I would look for one with constant monitoring not the family pool who occasionally throws chemicals in and shocks it.

 

[LouLou]

Personally I think it depends on the lake. Is it near a lot of agricultural run off (not good for pesticides, fertilizers and fecal contamination). Is there a lot of development around the lake? Also, not good because where there are people there are contaminants. I live on a lake and through inside sources have been told not to swim in it because there's raw sewage in it. The town does not disclose this and I'm pretty sure the only place where they check contaminate levels are at the beach. When the numbers are high they blame the geese. Yey right! The lake I speak of is over boated (not good). Is the lake you are considering quite clear...can you still see the bottom 12 ft out? I swam in a lake at a summer camp as a kid. It was spring fed and naturally created. I'm leary of all man made lakes. Are they even called lakes? Water should be exchanging. Spring fed in and spring out. Sorry for the complicated answer but thats where I'm at with my lake thinking at age 32 with cf. I also began culturing PA at age 2. I grew up on another lake that was not as clear as the summer camp lake I visited but still was not boated or over developed. It was also natural. Does your kid already culture PA? If so I would evaluate whether you think it's a clear lake and go for it. If not, well then I would consider that it's a good chance they will get PA from it and you'll have to do Tobi on off. I've been inhaling Tobra since before Tobi existed. It's a major suck on time in my life but I'm used to it. From the sounds of it on this site though it's very emotionally and physically draining to have to deal with the abx regimen once they have a + culture for PA. Decisions. decisions. As far as pools I would look for one with constant monitoring not the family pool who occasionally throws chemicals in and shocks it.

 

[LouLou]

Personally I think it depends on the lake. Is it near a lot of agricultural run off (not good for pesticides, fertilizers and fecal contamination). Is there a lot of development around the lake? Also, not good because where there are people there are contaminants. I live on a lake and through inside sources have been told not to swim in it because there's raw sewage in it. The town does not disclose this and I'm pretty sure the only place where they check contaminate levels are at the beach. When the numbers are high they blame the geese. Yey right! The lake I speak of is over boated (not good). Is the lake you are considering quite clear...can you still see the bottom 12 ft out? I swam in a lake at a summer camp as a kid. It was spring fed and naturally created. I'm leary of all man made lakes. Are they even called lakes? Water should be exchanging. Spring fed in and spring out. Sorry for the complicated answer but thats where I'm at with my lake thinking at age 32 with cf. I also began culturing PA at age 2. I grew up on another lake that was not as clear as the summer camp lake I visited but still was not boated or over developed. It was also natural. Does your kid already culture PA? If so I would evaluate whether you think it's a clear lake and go for it. If not, well then I would consider that it's a good chance they will get PA from it and you'll have to do Tobi on off. I've been inhaling Tobra since before Tobi existed. It's a major suck on time in my life but I'm used to it. From the sounds of it on this site though it's very emotionally and physically draining to have to deal with the abx regimen once they have a + culture for PA. Decisions. decisions. As far as pools I would look for one with constant monitoring not the family pool who occasionally throws chemicals in and shocks it.

 

[mamaScarlett]

btw, we have a lake on our property and we swim in it all summer. My docs never said anything about it to us. The only thing she's ever told me to stay away from is our barn, since we have horses, lots of allergy type triggers are there. I can't recall her pointing out anything else of concern. <br>Hope you have a healthy happy summer!<br>wanted to add since lauren pointed it out, yes our lake is a spring fed one so that does clean it out well. also a lake with lots of fish in it is a healthy lake bc they clear out lots of bacteria and vegetation. <br>

 

[mamaScarlett]

btw, we have a lake on our property and we swim in it all summer. My docs never said anything about it to us. The only thing she's ever told me to stay away from is our barn, since we have horses, lots of allergy type triggers are there. I can't recall her pointing out anything else of concern. <br>Hope you have a healthy happy summer!<br>wanted to add since lauren pointed it out, yes our lake is a spring fed one so that does clean it out well. also a lake with lots of fish in it is a healthy lake bc they clear out lots of bacteria and vegetation. <br>

 

[mamaScarlett]

btw, we have a lake on our property and we swim in it all summer. My docs never said anything about it to us. The only thing she's ever told me to stay away from is our barn, since we have horses, lots of allergy type triggers are there. I can't recall her pointing out anything else of concern. <br>Hope you have a healthy happy summer!<br>wanted to add since lauren pointed it out, yes our lake is a spring fed one so that does clean it out well. also a lake with lots of fish in it is a healthy lake bc they clear out lots of bacteria and vegetation. <br>

 

[tammykrumrey]

We have never been told not to swim in lakes or pools. Only hot tubs are a no-no! I do choose not to allow them in ponds (yuck!) and rivers. We live in Missouri, and my in-laws have a house boat on the Mississippi River. I do not like them to swim there. I don't really even like the girls going up to the river at all. Kayla has ABPA, and aspergillus is found in river banks...so I do try to keep her from there. And when the girls were little, we would spend the night on the river and every time Kayla woke up feeling terrible. We sold the boat, and now we have a swimming pool instead. The girls love to swim and their CF doctor loves the exercise they get from it!

 

[tammykrumrey]

We have never been told not to swim in lakes or pools. Only hot tubs are a no-no! I do choose not to allow them in ponds (yuck!) and rivers. We live in Missouri, and my in-laws have a house boat on the Mississippi River. I do not like them to swim there. I don't really even like the girls going up to the river at all. Kayla has ABPA, and aspergillus is found in river banks...so I do try to keep her from there. And when the girls were little, we would spend the night on the river and every time Kayla woke up feeling terrible. We sold the boat, and now we have a swimming pool instead. The girls love to swim and their CF doctor loves the exercise they get from it!

 

[tammykrumrey]

We have never been told not to swim in lakes or pools. Only hot tubs are a no-no! I do choose not to allow them in ponds (yuck!) and rivers. We live in Missouri, and my in-laws have a house boat on the Mississippi River. I do not like them to swim there. I don't really even like the girls going up to the river at all. Kayla has ABPA, and aspergillus is found in river banks...so I do try to keep her from there. And when the girls were little, we would spend the night on the river and every time Kayla woke up feeling terrible. We sold the boat, and now we have a swimming pool instead. The girls love to swim and their CF doctor loves the exercise they get from it!

 

[ymikhale]

i don't let my dd swim in either lakes, rivers or swimming pools, and our doctor also advised against it. the pb with swimming pools is the still water around the edges. In our particular case i consider that it is not worth the risk since my child is not yet colonized with PA (she did culture it twice though, so i know what pain and how scary it is). I do let her swim in oceans of course and encourage to exercise as much as possible

 

[ymikhale]

i don't let my dd swim in either lakes, rivers or swimming pools, and our doctor also advised against it. the pb with swimming pools is the still water around the edges. In our particular case i consider that it is not worth the risk since my child is not yet colonized with PA (she did culture it twice though, so i know what pain and how scary it is). I do let her swim in oceans of course and encourage to exercise as much as possible

 

[ymikhale]

i don't let my dd swim in either lakes, rivers or swimming pools, and our doctor also advised against it. the pb with swimming pools is the still water around the edges. In our particular case i consider that it is not worth the risk since my child is not yet colonized with PA (she did culture it twice though, so i know what pain and how scary it is). I do let her swim in oceans of course and encourage to exercise as much as possible

 

[Kristen]

I grew up on a lake in Maine, so I swam in a lake almost every day of every summer for 18+ years and didn't culture PA until I was 23. Now it comes and goes in my cultures. My CF doctor told me PA is everywhere and that I need to live my life because, if I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it.

 

[Kristen]

I grew up on a lake in Maine, so I swam in a lake almost every day of every summer for 18+ years and didn't culture PA until I was 23. Now it comes and goes in my cultures. My CF doctor told me PA is everywhere and that I need to live my life because, if I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it.