@auvil21. Hi Janet -- This is amazing that you and so many of your relatives have or have had paralyzed diaphragms. I was diagnosed with a paralyzed left diaphragm last October and read that it was rare. You could be famous and be a great case study, if you were so inclined. My thoracic surgeon scoffed at the thought of physical therapy and breathing exercises, and I'm wondering if it is helping you. He wanted to do plication surgery right away, but I said I wanted to wait at least until spring. My life has slowed down considerably from Covid, and I just pace myself. Thus, I'm getting along pretty well and may not have surgery until I get worse. Someone on MayoConnect told me about a surgeon in New Jersey who is grafting a nerve onto that nerve that controls the diaphragm that isn't working properly. He/she said at the time he was the only person in the country doing this. I tracked him down by doing a google search. I'm 74 and don't have the inclination to do this; but if I were 20 years younger, I'd look into it. Patient feedback on his web site was quite positive. A couple of people on MayoConnect had awful experiences with plication surgery, but I don't know how long ago they had the operations or how they were done. My surgeon specializes in minimally invasive chest surgery using robots. I saw how he would do it on the internet, and it's pretty amazing. He said things would go more smoothly if I lost weight, so I'm working on that. I'm sorry that you have this, but it's nice to connect with other people who have this! Did your pulmonologist refer you to a thoracic surgeon? Nancy