I had Bilateral Pneumectomy (Volume Lung Reduction) Surgery on May 16, 1995, at Barnes Hospital in ST. Louis, Mo. and would like to share with you some of the experiences.

In September of 1994 my wife, Doris , and I left our home in south Florida for Denver, Colorado, where I was going to enter the PRIDE program at the National Jewish Center of Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. The Program is a three week evaluation and physical therapy program .

I am 64 years old , and have emphysema, chronic pulmonary disease (COPD) and corpulmonal. I was diagnosed with chronic bronchits and emphysema in 1973.

On our way to Dever, we stopped in Atalanta to visit with our daughter. She had an article on "Volume Lung Reduction Surgery" they were doing at Emery University. I called , and spoke to one of the nurses in the Thorasic Surgery Department who gave me the phone number of one of the former patients who had the surgery. I called and spoke with her. She was a 43 year old woman who, according to her, was given a new life. This was my first exposure to VLR Surgery.

I had such a hard time in Denver, at the mile high altitude, that we had to leave Denver prior to completing the PRIDE program. All tests results at NJC confirmed my diagnosis. During the exit interview , the Doctor told me that I could be a candidtate for Volume Reduction Surgery and suggested that I send my records to Joel D. Copper , MD at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. We returned home , got the nessisary information together and mailed it to Doctor Cooper on October 11, 1995.

I recieved a letter from Barnes Hospital in early November , telling me that I was concidered a Potential cadidtate for the surgery. A few days latter I recieved a call from the hospital. My evaluation was scheduled for early spring, as I have a low tolerance for the cold winter weather that was soon to be in St. Louis.

I read the two articles that appeared in the NOV/DEC 1994 edition of the Saturday Evening Post on Volume Reduction Surgery. These Articles had a very positive reflection as to how I felt about having the operation. If you have not seen the articles , I hope you will get a copy. One Article was an Interview with Dr. Joel Cooper, MD. Titled " Breakthrough for Emphysema Patients". The second article was an interview with a 58 year old woman with debilitating emphysema who benefited tremendously from the Volume Reduction Surgery. ( Note The Referenced Articles were featured in in a previous issue of the Airways).

I was able to mask my disability for a long time , but as time progressed , I could tell that my pulmonary function had declined over the years, and getting worse. I decided to take advantage of early retirement at age 55 and put i for my retirement effective Jan . 87 . I wa employed 31 years with the same company.

Yes, I was a smoker, quitting to late in 1976. The damage to my lungs had already been done. I was prone to catching colds and the flu at least once a year.In 1992 and 93 I was in the hospital with a bad case of the flu and pneumonia.

Late in March of 95 I was contacted by the hospital and scheduled my appointment for evaluation by Dr. Joel Cooper on 4-25-95. Now it was the time to put cards on the table and go to St. Louis.

I had been in a rehab program since returning from Denver , and was in very good physical condition. After my tests , evaluation and interviews, DR. Cooper offered me the operation and since my physical condition was as good as it was , the normal requirment to return home for a six week rehab program was waived. I started in the rehab program there at Barnes Hospital until my surgery date could be scheduled. Everyone thought I was an ideal candidate and that the operation would be successful.

I had previously been advised that either Dr. Cooper or Dr. G. Alexander Paterson would be doing the surgery. My operation was scheduled and done on 5-16-95. Dr G. Alexander Patterson was the attending physician and surgeon , with Stephen W Downing as the first surgical assistant. Dr, Joel D. Cooper was also called in at some point during the operation.

I said goodbye to my wife about 6:00 am , The next thing I remember I was waking up feeling very bad and extremely thirsty , with all sorts of things sticking in me and out of me.

The next few days were spent in the 6200 observation unit, where patients who have this surgery are placed until they can move into a regular hospital room. You could not get any better care anywhere, than from the nurses that work in the observation unit. The intire team that Dr. Cooper and Dr. Patterson have put together are all proffesionals and very attentive to patients needs. I was later put in a regular hospital room , and discharged 6-1-95.

Dr. Patterson told me they only operated on one side, since they had such an incredibly difficult time with my right lung. I had a lot os scarring between the surface of the lung and the inside portion of my chest cavityon the upper portion of the right lung. When they opened the left chest pleura they determined that my left was as bad or worse and at that point it was decided not to operate on the left lung , for if they had , I might not have survived. My surgery took seven hours.

I had lost ten pounds and was pretty week at date of discharge. They wanted me to stay in St. Louis in their rehab until I was better able to travel,which turned out to be a good thing as I had to be readmitted to the hospital on 6-8-95 for another week. I was treated for an infection and released on 6-14-95.

I continued to go to the hospital daily for a rehab exercise session.It took me about two weeks to get back enough strenght to make the trip home. Our oldest son flew up and drove our motorhome back to our home in Florida. We arrived home on 6-30-95. It sure was good to be back home again.

Since returning home, I have gained four pounds and started back in the rehad program. I am stronger and able to get around mch better. I am still on oxygen 100% of the time. Dr. Patterson discussed the possibility of a single lung Transplant to replace the damaged left lung. When he first mentioned this ,I was shaocked, as a long Transplant had not been one of my options. He suggested I concider it. The only additional test that I needed was a cadiac catherizeation. If the test was satisfactory, I would be eligible to be listed on the lung transplant list. I said that I would think about it and let him know when I returned for my 90 day checkup, which was scheduled for late August.

We decided to fly to St, Louis for my 90 day checkup in August, as I was unable to make the long trip by car. We made the necessary arangements with TWA for oxygen on board the plane, and our oxygen provider to take care of my oxygen needs while we where in St.Luois. My wife, Doris, accompanied me on the trip. She was my support person through the entire ordeal. I could not have made it without her.

Before making this trip I notified the coordinator of the lung transplant department that I would like to be placed on the transplant list and arrangements were made for me to have the cariac cathetterization done. The test was done , the results we OK and I was accepted for the transplant list. Since age is a factor I had to make the decision when I did. I will have the option to say "yes" or "no thank you" when the time comes. What I will say will be determined by my condition when the time arrives.

The 90 day checkup consisted of a six minute walk, full pulmonary function testing, chest x-rays, and a meeting with the doctor. The results of the test were compared to the 6-7-95 test results. The results of both tests were almost the same, without any significant differences.

Prior to my discharge from the hospital back in May, Dr. Patterson told me we were not going to have the results from my surgery that they had expected, but that there was some improvement (in the numbers from the pulmonary tests) and that hopefully there would be more improvement down the road. The results they were expecting were in the 50% to 70% improvement in breathing ability( lung volume and shortness of breath) and in my case I was looking at perhaps 20%. So I can only conclude that the opertunity was there, I took a shot at it and it did not work in my case. I will continue to to excercise and stay in a rehab program to improve my overall ability and strenght.

I think it's safe to say that pre testing procedures cannot accuratly reflect the true condition of ones lungs."my feeling is that ifd you feel your quality of life is such that you are willing to put your life on the line , then of course go ahead with the testing procedures,discuss your case with your doctors and then make your decision to have to surgery or not. " The numbers certainly indicate that it has been helpful to a great majority of those who have gone through the operation.

I was numeber 99 and when I was in ST. Luois the last week in August, they had done one hundred and forty operations at Barnes Hospital. To date there have been five fatalities. These numbers are considerably less than what Dr. Cooper first predicted when the program started a coulple of years ago. Would I do it again ? NO, knowing what I know now, and neither would the doctors if they had known the condition of my lungs before opening my chest.

There has been alot of publicity on the subject lately and the surgeons have begun accepting patients for the surgery.This surgery's success is , according to Dr. Cooper, attributed to the combination of skilled surgeons, their highly trained teams, and expert post operative care.

If you choose to have the surgery, be sure that your surgeons and those who assistthem are well trained in this specific procedure.

If anyone has questions and would like to talk to me direct, my phone number is 407- 622- 5464 I will be glad to help in any way that I can.