Did anyone see East Midlands today at 6:30 this evening?
About half way through the programme they did a feature on a new procedure being trialled at Kings Mill Hospital in Notts ( I think). I can't do links but am sure you can view it on BBC I-Player if you know how to use it. (Don't ask me)
Essentially they had invented a very small plastic valve (zephyr) which could be put in place laproscopically with a minimally invasive procedure which had really beneficial effects for some patients.. it seems to help in the opening of the lungs, though does not work for all conditions. The operation in total was quoted as costing £8000. Did anyone from BLF see this and have any comments to make?
Written by
warwickstag
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First, it's not possible to see a repeat of this program. When I searched for it, it flagged up as 'Not Available'.
Second. I spoke to someone earlier this evening who pointed out the program to me, but I had missed it.
What can I tell you.
1. I had valves put into my right lung 12 months ago. The result, a complete success. I wrote a very detailed blog about it several months ago on this website. The link to that is:
2. I am in contact with several people at Pulmonx (the company that makes the valves) since I gave a presentation at a seminar in Cardiff to encourage thoracic surgeons to take up the procedure. There are tests going on at several hospitals around the country at the moment.
3. I am about to do another presentation at Leeds early March.
If any one has any questions about the procedure or my experiences of it, please just ask.
The surgical team started me off on lots of dilators via nebuliser, then just before starting the procedure added a local anesthetic, and sedative by iv. Tubed my throat, put the scope in and started looking around inside my lung. they got so involved in discussing what they could see, and what the options were, that the local started to wear off, and I was starting to get a gag reaction. At that point the anesthetist called a time out and put me out with an iv general anesthetic. When I came round a couple of hours later, all done and dusted. Got to say, I had an immediate huge improvement in my breathing. That was amazing. Then because the lobe collapsed so quickly, I had a Pneumothorax which took several weeks to repair.
This last twelve months have seen big improvements in how the operation proceeds. Most people now only stay in hospital for a couple of days, and I hear that some people have been done as day patients.
Interesting point, the people who have complications like a pneumothorax also tend to be ones who have the best improvement. Whatever, it gives such good results without massive invasive surgery, which we would have a high risk of not surviving. That's real progress.
Unfortunately it does not work like that. Any pneumothorax is bad. It is tear in the outer fabric of the lung that lets air into the chest cavity, and stops the lungs expanding and contracting. I ended up having two chest drains fitted and connected to suction to keep my lungs working while the tear healed. The healing process was interfered with by the steroids I had been taking.
I can understand a little how difficult this must have been for you. I had a pneumothorax when much younger and really fit then...even then it took me ages to recover ! How horrible and so glad you have made a great recovery ... clearly meant to be around for a long long time x.
hello hope you dont mind me asking how did you begin to find out if you are a suitible candinate to have these valves fitted please could you let me know ,as i am getting desperate thankyou kaprer
What did quite surprise me was the fact that this gentleman aged 70,had recently become a father ,his wife was 45,lets hope he makes a great recovery .
Oh, no. No. My tolerance atm is so low, if someone sneezed and I heard it as ‘vitamins’ I’d sit on them as quick as look at them and demand to know who they worked for 🤷♂️ Interestingly, this profile has no content at all, and the reply is a one liner, almost as if someone saw my reply to you regarding the last one and took the feedback on board 🤔😂
That made me laugh, chap, and we do all have a line at which we decide pretty much anything is worth a go. Clearly, 6 layabout endo valves is yours 😂 Take it easy, good sir.
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