If your doctor's blanket statement is that plication surgeries don't work and improve people's lives, he or she is sadly mistaken. Shortly after mine was diagnosed, I joined a facebook page for people with paralyzed diaphragms; and many of them have had successful plication surgeries that restored their lives. If you are interested in pursuing having it done, I would encourage you to find a thoracic surgeon who has done a lot of them to evaluate your particular situation. Good luck!

My pulmonologist said the same thing. She told me there was nothing that could be done. I would just have to use supplemental oxygen if I wanted to do much (visit my sister at a higher elevation, for example), and probably end up on it permanently, degrading over time.

I started digging into medical research and found there is a lot of evidence diaphragm plication is generally quite successful - on average, improving lung function by 20%. And the risk and recovery time is pretty low with the newer minimally invasive surgical techniques. (And the facebook group was full of people who had good results, too.) So, at age 69, I decided to do it.

Had the surgery at Mayo Clinic Phoenix a few weeks ago. Woke up and took my first deep breath in more than a decade. Dr D'Cunha was my surgeon and he was great!