Indianapolis woman breathes in new life with lung treatment

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A new medical procedure is breathing life into the ailing lungs of an Indianapolis woman.

Nan Graf, 73, was placed on oxygen a year ago. Beginning in autumn 2022, She couldn’t get up and down the stairs in her house, walk her dog or even leave home without oxygen from a portable tank.

“They said I was going to have to have oxygen. They said, ‘You are going to have to be on oxygen full time. I went, ‘Excuse me.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God.”

The consequences of a full life had left a mark on her lungs.

Graf had breathing issues and had quit smoking cigarettes and other recreational material more than twenty years ago. “I regret what I did to my body. When you are smoking it can take a toll on your lungs, but when you are in active addiction it doesn’t really matter.”   

The years of smoking led to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema.

A call from her doctor changed everything.

Dr Phillip Forys, a pulmonologist and the medical director of pulmonary rehabilitation at Ascension St. Vincent hospital in Indianapolis, suggested she might be a candidate for a new procedure called bronchoscopic lung volume reduction.

“This procedure works really well in taking that sick part and making it smaller, and then, when it is smaller, when Nan is active or anyone is active with advanced emphysema, hyperinflation, the healthy lung has more room to work. So, a lot of people who smoke, the smoke travels up, damages the tops of the lungs, and that lung can get too big and squish the bottom parts.”  

Forys says a device, which is about half the size of a quarter, acts like a plumbing check valve and lets air out but restricts the flow of air to the sick part of Nan’s lung.

The doctor said, “It only lets air out one way. So when a patient like Nan takes a deep breath in with the location of the valve, when she takes a deep breath, air doesn’t go to the sick part anymore. It mostly goes down, checks the air that is coming in from the unhealthy lung and brings it into the healthy lung.”

Graf is the second person in Indiana to have the procedure. She has six valves in her lungs and is off portable oxygen, except at night when she sleeps, which is not expected for all patients.

Forys says about 8% of the population in Indiana has COPD, which he says is a very high rate, and smoking is the leading cause of COPD.

To qualify for the procedure, patients are put through rigorous breathing tests. The procedure is recommended for active, older adults who don’t have any other serious medical conditions.

Forys said, “No. 1, no smoking. I prefer six months. No. 2 is reasonably active, so one who is still leaving the house, walking in the grocery store, playing with their kids, but maybe they feel limited.

“Unfortunately, this is not a great procedure for someone who is really ill and homebound.

“Exercise is really one of the better treatments for COPD.”

The doctors says about 50 patients have been screened so far for the procedure, which is insurance covers.