Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I have lived in many places but I consider Michigan my home. I have also had a few different careers in my life. I was a dairy farmer in New Mexico and a paramedic in both Colorado and Michigan. I learned as a paramedic how to quickly assess medical situations, and became very aware of recognizing when my own body feels off.

I was living in Colorado with my brother when I first noticed my breathing was labored. For years I believed it was just from the altitude. My brother and I hiked Pikes Peak, a 14,000 foot elevation. When we got to the summit, I was struggling and couldn’t catch my breath. That difficult climb will have most people short of breath but even when we got back down, it seemed like my breathing never really recovered. I loved to be outside and enjoyed hunting, fishing, boating — things that people do without much thought. As this disease progressed, those things became harder and harder and I was put on 3 liters of oxygen 24/7 and a BiPAP machine.

My brother passed away and my breathing got worse. I knew I had to leave Colorado. I drove back to Michigan and as soon as I crossed over into Kansas my breathing felt so much better. I’m sure being closer to sea level had something to do with it. I honestly thought my breathing would continue to get better. Unfortunately, I began having weekly exacerbations. Thanks to my medical background, I could feel when they were coming and was able to manage them and avoid going to the hospital. I got all my charts and medical records from my doctor in Colorado sent over to a pulmonologist in Kalamazoo, MI who began treating my COPD.

On the way to dinner with two friends, an exacerbation came on out of nowhere. Thankfully I had all my medicine and equipment with me, but it was the longest dinner of my life. I remember sitting there unsure if another exacerbation was around the corner. I had to take a wheelchair from the door to my car and my friend had to drive home. One of the hardest parts of having a breathing attack is not only trying to catch your breath, but feeling helpless. There were times where I felt like giving up and that is something I feel like people with COPD don’t talk about enough. I am typically a very upbeat person and those negative feelings were very unlike me.

My current pulmonologist had tried different medication combinations and inhalers. None of the treatments made me feel any better, so he referred me to see an interventional pulmonologist. That was Dr. Cumbo-Nacheli in Grand Rapids, MI. He did the testing to see if I was a candidate for the Zephyr Valves.

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I had COPD for a while but was told it was the bronchitis type. Then, in 2014, after an exacerbation, a CT scan confirmed I actually had emphysema. I had smoked for 40 years and quit cold turkey after receiving that diagnosis.

Emphysema is life-changing. I learned to stop doing the things that caused exertion. I had to give up one of my favorite parts of my social life — dancing. I go on a cruise every year with my friends and had to start using wheelchair assistance to get on and off the ship and at airports. When walking around the ship I could stop and rest when I needed to, but I couldn’t participate in most of the fun activities anymore, like dancing. I missed out on some excursions, too, especially if they involved a lot of walking. Emphysema makes living hard.

As the disease progressed, it got to the point where I couldn’t do daily tasks like housework, going up stairs, and carrying out the trash. I needed help with almost everything that caused exertion. I could cook, take care of personal hygiene, and dress myself, but not without oxygen.

My disease was taking a physical toll, but I am not the kind of person to let it get me down. I was always determined to try to make my condition better. I received a lot of support through friends and Facebook groups. Pulmonary rehab is a very important component to being able to get my health to the best I could make it. I was able to wean myself off of oxygen by exercising to build stamina and strength but, even with that, I still kept the oxygen nearby and my lung function was still pretty low.

I had at least one hospitalization every year. The longest stay was 11 days in 2018, and that’s when my pulmonologist asked me if I would consider a lung transplant. My lung function was down to 31%. That’s when I spoke with a Dr. Michael Simoff at Henry Ford Hospital who said that I might be a candidate for treatment with the Zephyr Valve. After taking all the tests, I was very happy to learn that I qualified!

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

Before COPD/emphysema I was always on the go. Living in Florida, I grew up on the water and love surfing and scuba diving. In my career I was a domestic violence counselor, Juvenile Justice Resident Officer, and a property manager. I was also a cheerleading coach and gymnastics instructor. Needless to say, I kept very busy!

About 10 years ago, I had to call 911 because I couldn’t breathe. I was put on a ventilator and in an induced coma. They thought it was an allergic reaction, but it was my lungs. I had a new grandbaby that was only 15 days old when that happened. It scares me to think of all I almost missed.

Once I was diagnosed with COPD/emphysema, I tried to go on living life, but I kept getting sick. I was on prednisone several times a year. I did go to a pulmonologist, but I didn’t like what he had to say. He told me all the things I couldn’t do, and I was shocked when he recommended that I get on the lung transplant list.

Then about five years ago, on a trip to Hawaii, I realized I was really struggling with all the walking. It wasn’t too long after that trip that just walking to the car had me winded. About four years ago they put me on oxygen. I was a “closet user.” When everyone else took a lunch break, I’d go in the car and drive around to use my oxygen where no one could see. I didn’t even want to tell my kids.

My big life started to shrink. I used to teach diving and swimming lessons, but it got to the point where I couldn’t even clean my pool anymore. Some days I didn’t even care if I ate. This disease was taking both a physical and mental toll on me.

I still had some fight in me, though. I have four biological grandkids and five step grandkids, and for some of them I am the only living grandparent. I wanted to be there for them. After seeing a post about the Zephyr Valves on Facebook, I asked my doctor about them. Well, he didn’t know too much but said the procedure wouldn’t work for me because my lungs were already too far gone. I told him we’d have to agree to disagree, and I went to the Mayo Clinic where the valves were offered. Dr. Bussy explained the guidelines and answered all my questions. After all the testing, they called to say I qualified…and boy was that a reason to celebrate!