Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I was a healthy kid. I played football, basketball, baseball, swimming, track, and more. In 1959, I went into the Airforce. I didn’t smoke when I went in, but then once you’re in, it’s “take 10 and light ‘em up.” If you didn’t smoke, you got put on some duty. So needless to say, most of us started to light up. Fifty-five years later I quit smoking, but the COPD/emphysema had already taken over in my lungs.

About eight years ago, I caught a cold and it just escalated quickly. It was a steady decline after that. I went from being this active healthy guy to struggling to breathe with simple tasks. I couldn’t ride my bike anymore. Even doing yard work had become difficult. I would try to weed whack and edge the lawn, but I would have to use the rescue inhaler and stop often to rest. When you have to stop and lean over to catch your breath, you start to think “this may be my last breath.” It scared my wife and me.

I was not on oxygen yet but I was getting very discouraged at the decline I was seeing. On a trip in 2018, I ended up in the ER having breathing treatments. My general practitioner, Dr. Cressa Perish, referred me to Dr. Steve White at University of Chicago Medical Center. He told me “it’s only going to get worse.” I told him I was ready to try something, even if it was a newer option. 

In 2019, Dr. White introduced me to his colleague Dr. Kyle Hogarth who had studied the newly FDA-approved Zephyr Valves. Once Dr. Hogarth explained how the valves worked I was 100% ready to try them. He had to do some tests to see if I was a candidate, but I was hopeful that this would give me some of my life back.

Life Before Zephyr^® Valves:

I was fortunate enough to have a job I loved and looked forward to going to everyday. I spent 36 years working as an engineer for CSX Railroad. I spent my days on the train seeing parts of Florida many never get to see. On my days off, I enjoyed fishing, hunting, and spending time with my family and dogs. But as my breathing became worse, the activities I loved to do started decreasing.

I was diagnosed with severe COPD/emphysema at age 62. Even though I quit smoking 24 years ago, the habit still had a severe impact on my lung health. I was using multiple inhalers multiple times a day. It felt like I was living on my rescue inhalers. It never left my side. In the beginning of my diagnosis, I used oxygen only at night, but that soon grew to be an all-day thing too. I was really scared to do anything, even simple things like walking out to my truck, because honestly I was scared I was going to die.

When you have COPD or emphysema, it feels like you are living in a bubble. You are strapped to your oxygen and the activities you loved so much are taken away. Sometimes my breathing was so bad that I couldn’t even catch my breath enough to take my rescue inhaler.  My breathing got down to 25% and that is when Dr. Juan Cevallo referred me to Dr. Nathan Do’s office and started my testing to get the Zephyr Valves.

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:

Before my diagnosis of COPD, I lived a very full life. I’ve been married for 45 years, raised three kids, and now have nine grandchildren. The grandkids all live close by and are such a big part of our life. I work as a real estate professional specializing in selling new homes for a national builder. In our spare time, my wife and I enjoy our small beach house in Ocean City, MD.

I was very healthy before this disease. Growing up in New England, I loved the ocean and swimming became my sport and passion. I was a New England swimming champion my junior year of high school and I coached for many years. I swam almost daily until about five years ago when my lungs just wouldn’t allow me to get in the water anymore.

I smoked for about 30 years, but I had quit five years before my pulmonologist diagnosed me with COPD/emphysema. The first time I used oxygen was back in 2005. I got very sick and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, but that was a misdiagnosis. What I really had was pneumonia. My lungs deteriorated from then on. By 2018 I needed the oxygen full time and for the past 12 months, I didn’t have the lung capacity to support walking, even with oxygen. If I went to the grocery store, I had to use the handicap cart. I couldn’t even make the bed. The simplest tasks were not possible anymore.

This disease robs you of your life. My life became limited in so many ways. I couldn’t swim anymore and socializing was difficult. It is hard to join in conversation when you are struggling to breathe. You really start feeling like a smaller version of yourself. It truly is depressing.

When my pulmonologist brought up the Zephyr^® Valves and referred me to Dr. Mahajan, I said, “Sign me up!” Dr. Mahajan’s nurse, Nancy, explained the procedure to me and arranged all the testing. I was supposed to have my valves in September, but it was postponed a few weeks because I needed a cardiac clearance.