@grump. I'll be anxious to hear what the surgeon recommends so hope you will let us know. I hope he is a thoracic surgeon experienced in doing plication surgery using video assisted technology (VAT) and robots. It's a minimally invasive way to do chest surgery with less wear and tear on the body. I watched a video about plication surgery using robots on You Tube, and it's pretty amazing. Not being able to breath is awful; and if I were having serious difficulty, I'd have the surgery now after getting a second opinion that it was the right thing to do. If your nerve isn't damaged, you might want to look at a diaphragmic pacemaker as an option to plication surgery and contact Dr. Raymond Onders at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. One of the men in the paralyzed diaphragm facebook group had this done with great success. He said Dr. Onders is the only person in the country doing it. Good luck! Nancy