Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I was a truck driver for Walmart for 28 years. In December ‘99, I was on a run and felt like I was coming down with the flu so I went home and rested. Well, it wasn’t just the flu because a week later I was in the hospital with only 10% lung function, placed in a drug-induced coma, and hooked up to a ventilator.

I was diagnosed with emphysema complicated by bronchitis. I quit smoking right then and with the use of inhalers, my stamina built back up. After three months, I returned to work and was able to continue for several years until 2017 when I had five exacerbations and my lung health really declined.

In 2017 my mom was in the hospital and I had to go to Iowa to care for her. The stress of the situation coupled with hot/humid weather put me in the hospital for a week when I got home. I had only been using oxygen at night, but after this flare-up I needed it every day. Regulations prohibited me from having an oxygen tank on my truck so I had to take a leave of absence from work, eventually retiring completely.

After 2017, the disease stole my life as I knew it from me. I went from driving a truck across the U.S. to struggling just to walk around the house. We downsized our home because I couldn’t care for our two-acre property anymore. Working on cars was my hobby and I couldn’t do that anymore. I had to sell my ’69 Chevelle. Life became very frustrating.

I wasn’t hesitant when I heard about valves but had a lot of questions. Dr. Sharma was honest and explained that I wasn’t going to get rid of the disease, but this treatment was a chance to breathe better.

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I was diagnosed with COPD about 15 years ago. After my dad passed away from Alpha-1 emphysema, I was tested and was negative for Alpha-1, but still had COPD and early stage emphysema at that point. I smoked for 30 years and was finally able to quit eight years ago.

My COPD has had a huge downhill impact on our lifestyle. Essentially, I went from being an active outdoor person, to being stuck at home. We had a house on Lake Michigan and loved to kayak, camp, and bike. I hunted for 30 years, spending the whole day in the woods. As the disease progressed, I couldn’t do much anymore. Life became very limited. I even had to retire early from my career as a general manager.

My doctor put me on Spiriva^® and Advair^®550, and in the early years the medication helped to manage it. As time went on the medications were less effective, and I had several ER trips because my oxygen levels dropped. I ended up with pneumonia twice and had to be put on steroids and oxygen. As the disease progressed, I needed oxygen regularly, and eventually I couldn’t get by without it. I was on four liters of oxygen 24/7 for two years. 

I was seeing a holistic doctor (who was also my neighbor). She had read an article about Zephyr Valves and she recommended I look into it. My regular pulmonary doctor did not agree that the valves were an option for me, so I called Henry Ford directly, had all the testing done, and qualified. I’m on social media and I always tell others with this disease, “don’t take what your current doctor says…you have to see someone who does the valves to be properly evaluated.” It makes me crazy that my treating doctors didn’t bring this to my attention and maybe I suffered longer than I had to.

Then came the battle with insurance. We really had to fight for coverage with Anthem Blue Cross. The Pulmonx Reimbursement Team stepped in and appealed again and again for me. They did not give up on me and fought for me all the way to the Federal Appeals Court. It took eight months, but I got my valves.

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

Like many people with emphysema, I had always been an active person before the disease started slowing me down. I was a runner and also did long distance biking. I’m retired now but in my career years as a CPA and CFO, I worked in a nursing facility and was always running around. I’d been a smoker for a long time but was already down to one or two cigarettes a day, trying to quit, when my pulmonologist diagnosed me with emphysema in June of 2014. That was it…I quit for good that day.

I was no stranger to the symptoms of this disease. My husband also suffers from COPD and my father died of emphysema. My dad had struggled with the excessive coughing, but in the early years of my diagnosis I only had the shortness of breath. It did cause me a great deal of anxiety. I did a lot of research online because I had a hard time understanding why my symptoms were so different from my dad’s. I wondered if it was my heart, but it was definitely my lungs.

To combat the symptoms, I tried various inhalers, though none of them worked that great for me. I only used oxygen sometimes, but I did need it to exercise or recover from a cold.

The disease was slowly wearing me down. I couldn’t walk very far anymore. I’m an artist and I love to go to the Art Institute in Chicago, but it’s quite large and requires a lot of walking — I just couldn’t do it anymore. One of my studio art classes became difficult to attend because I had to park so far away. It was getting to the point where I was going to have to give that up too and the thought of that was heartbreaking.

I was online one day and the link to the Zephyr Valve page popped up. I called my doctor immediately and he gave me a referral to Dr. Desai. I went to see him in December and had the procedure two months later. There was no hesitation because I figured I had to try it, especially with it being non-invasive.

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I was diagnosed with COPD/emphysema in 2010. Before COPD/emphysema, my life was so full. I was a Mr. Mom and raised my three kids on my own. Once they were grown, I enjoyed playing golf and had an active social life.

I’ve been a plumber for over 50 years and I’ve breathed in all kinds of dust, asbestos, and who knows what else. That, coupled with smoking, did a number on my lungs. I would end up in the hospital two to three times a year. As the disease progressed, I began to have a lot more bad days than good ones. I was living alone and just taking a shower or walking from one end of the house to the other was difficult. I had to get people to help me with the basics of taking care of myself.

It is frustrating when you can’t do what you want to do. I missed out on a lot of things, like dance recitals for my grandkids, because I just couldn’t do the walking. I couldn’t eat much because it was too uncomfortable. My children were worried about me because as COPD limited my life, I became really depressed. I went from being a social person to being alone, and the feeling of hopelessness was overwhelming. Fortunately, I did go to talk to someone and that helped me get through.

About two and a half years ago, I was in the hospital being treated for a flare up and the pulmonary doctor there told me about the valves. I told my doctor at the VA in Dayton right away and we kept following the status of the valves until they were approved by the FDA. I was one of the first in Dayton to receive the valves. I didn’t worry about them being new; I was desperate to try something to help get my life back.