The facebook group for people with paralyzed diaphragms has around 1100 members. I'd estimate that more than half of them have had plication surgery, either a full thoracotomy or VAT minimally invasive surgery with robots. Where do you live? Members of the group could recommend a thoracic surgeon near where you live if they know of any. The top expert in the country for plication surgery and diaphragm issues in general that people in the group highly recommend is Dr. Mark Ginsburg at the Diaphragm Center at Columbia Medical Center in NY. I had a video conference with him because I wasn't quite sure that what my local highly qualified thoracic surgeon was telling me was correct. If you join the group, you could ask for recommendations; AND people could answer any questions you might have. This is a rare occurrence, and most doctors don't know much about it...so to have a group with over 1100 people with different knowledge and experienced is an amazing resource. Anyway, if you don't want to do that, please look for a thoracic surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive surgery using robots at a major medical center or a medical center affiliated with a university. Good luck!