Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

Before COPD you couldn’t slow me down. I was in the Marine Corps, I played softball and basketball, did yardwork and building projects, and helped friends with their projects. Then in 2015 when I was in my late 50s, I had an episode where I lost my breath for about 30 seconds and my wife rushed me to the ER. We thought it was a heart attack, but they kept me overnight to run further tests including CT scans which showed the real problem was COPD/emphysema. Although I was a smoker, environmental factors contributed to my COPD too. I worked with heavy machinery and melded a lot of metal over the years.

When the emphysema hit, it destroyed me. I went from a very full life to a very limited existence quickly. I had to be on oxygen at night and while doing any activities around the house. My social life basically stopped. Even with an inhaler and oxygen, I still ran out of air when trying to hold a full conversation. I couldn’t walk 10 feet without being winded. I just kept wondering “what the heck is going to happen to me.” The disease affects your body and your mind. I would become very aggravated and frustrated about all the things I could no longer do. I don’t know how my wife Debbie put up with me.

We were originally told to think about a lung transplant, but we read the information on that and I just didn’t want to go through it. My sister also had emphysema and she found some information on the Zephyr Valves. We did our research and they were not doing Zephyr Valves in Indiana yet, so we went to Louisville, Kentucky. The nurse coordinator at University of Louisville, Crissie, explained everything in detail and I was all in — I had to try something.

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I was diagnosed with COPD when I was about 50 years old. I have a busy job as a paramedic, and I am part of the opioid epidemic response team. I help patients by finding rehab facilities, passing out Narcan kits, and just letting them know our team is here for support. In my free time, I love to hunt and fish.

At first, my main COPD symptom was shortness of breath with exertion. I used three inhalers, but over the years I made some trips to the hospital due to some exacerbations and pneumonia. In the year before my valve procedure, I needed oxygen every night and had to keep it close by during the day.

Eventually, I had to give up my favorite hobbies including fishing. It was very difficult, and depressing. I got to the point where I was almost disabled. My wife became my caretaker and had to do so much for me. It was exhausting for her. This disease took a toll on both of us physically and mentally. I was desperate to find something to improve my condition, and our lives.

My pulmonologist had heard Dr. Zgoda speak at a seminar and thought I might be a candidate for the Zephyr Valves. I qualified in October 2019, but my insurance denied it. Marci, from the Pulmonx reimbursement team, was a godsend during the whole appeal process, and in June 2020 I got my Zephyr Valves!

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

There are many things I love about the life we’ve made in Louisiana — my wife, my daughter, my two grandchildren, and my dog, to name just a few. However, the one piece of my life that I didn’t love was a diagnosis I received nearly 20 years ago — COPD. Over the years, my breathing became worse, the list of medications I was taking kept growing, and my quality of life began to decline. Eventually I needed oxygen day and night and was forced to retire.

I lived an active lifestyle before my emphysema became severe. I loved keeping up with yard work, tasks around the house, and visiting with our beloved grandchildren and sweet dog, Chisel. But as my breathing began to worsen, those things became less and less. I am not a person who quits easily. Whenever they came out with a new inhaler, if it was covered by insurance, I would try it. But as it became nearly impossible to walk across a room, I knew I needed to get help.

When my pulmonologist, Dr. Ronald Hammett, brought up the Zephyr Valve procedure, I was all ears. Although I had only been seeing Dr. Hammett for a short time, I trusted him. It’s not often you find a doctor that truly cares like he does, and what I appreciated the most was that he prayed with me. After doing some research online, I decided I wanted to take the proper steps to see if I was a candidate for the valves, and when I got the call saying that I was, I hoped my prayers were answered.

The closest doctor that is trained in the Zephyr Valve procedure is in Houston — about eight hours away by car — but that wasn’t going to stop me! As soon as I met with Dr. Connolly at Houston Methodist, I knew he was going to take care of me. He didn’t promise me the moon, he kept it very honest and real.