I hope to learn this week if i qualify. Had 10 different tests here through Duke medical. The docs here were part of the original clinical trials so have been using the valves for 10 years. 🙏🏻 praying i can get valves instead of Lung Volume Reduction surgery. Much less invasive.

It is scary but I know of a guy that’s had it done snd he’s doing pretty good. Only 5 weeks out. So far.

The Zephyr valves were approved for use in the US in 2018, and were used in Europe and Australia for at least 10 years prior to that. There have been a great number of valves, vents, coils, steam and glue that have been trialed in the US to do essentially what the Zephyr valves do. I tested at the U of Iowa back in 2005 for one of the early ones, but these have been looked at for close to 20 years. They've learned a lot in those 20 years, and we have very much gained from the knowledge they developed in Europe especially. If you qualify, you will have a reasonable chance of a good outcome; a lot of what they've learned is what characteristics you need in your COPD to be a good candidate. So the science has definitely gotten better over the years. Good luck!

I had to change my appointment and now can’t get in to pulminologist till July . However I have since learned many Drs are doing this procedure that really are not qualified so we need to ask how long how many they’ve done ! Be safe it’s your body