COPD and Zephyr Valve procedure
Has anyone had this done or any options. That would be extremely helpful
this is a popular topic in our community! You can read more about others experiences here: https://copd.net/forums/zephyr-valve-treatment-discussion All the best, Sam S. (COPD team). Great question! We are starting a program here at the hospital I work at so as soon as we've done a few, I'll post how it went and what the patients had to say.
Lyn (moderator, COPD.net)Hello suffering people like me. Some time ago, I responded to a discussion about Zephyr valves manufactured by the Pulmonix corp. headquartered in San Francisco, California. Yes I had it done at a hospital in Winchester Virginia as the Veterans Administration healthcare did not include this at their hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The VA did cover the cost in full through the Care in the Community Program. It costs plenty.
The first question I asked the doctor who was to perform the down the throat and into the lung procedure was can you guarantee that I will not die from the procedure. He said no. There is a 25% chance that there will be a tear in the lung so you will be monitored for three days in the hospital.
I underwent general anesthesia three times, three intubations and three poking around inside the upper (smaller) lobe of the left lung. The doctor said, after the first procedure, "we made a mess in there." Not funny.
To make a long story shorter...it did not work for me, I was more breathless.
Intubation #2, make a valve adjustment and allow more time to see a positive result. No improvement. Final procedure, remove all five zephyr valves.I'm so sorry you had to go through all that only to find that it didn't help. Unfortunately, there seems to be no other way to know whether Zephyr valves will be effective. How was your recovery after the removal? Did the surgeries set you back much? Thank you for your service. Thinking of you. - Lori (Team Member)
These are called procedures rather than surgeries. There were no out of pocket costs. After the final procedure the hospital did not allow a stay to observe for a pneumothorax or observe my recovery from general anesthesia. My recovery at home was difficult in that I could not wake up which caused great concern for my wife. I do not recommend that hospital for this procedure.
Afterword: Some days before I was to start the procedure, I was in the hospital area and observed a man from my automobile. I was stopped at a traffic light. The man was standing near an entrance to the hospital holding up a sign made of cardboard.
The sign read: the hospital killed my little girl.How awful! That's definitely not something you want to see just before you allow someone to install a valve in your lung at the same hospital. - Lori (Team Member)
