Hello.
Sorry I have been away from the site lately. I strongly suggest that your sister talk with Dr Kaufmans office and see if they can offer some help. I had a nerve transplant and you may have seen some of my posts on here in the past. Several others I see have been to Dr Kaufman too and I hope you are doing well. I'm coming up on my 6 month anniversary since my surgery. The jury is still out but since my last post I did run 1/4 of a mile. Considering that I could only run about 50 ft prior to my surgery i only look for good things to come. You can find him on the web at the advanced reconstruction surgery website. Good luck and If you have any questions please post. There are many of us out there with some form of this problem and there is help for many if we can only find the right person to help.

Katielynn,
I don't know if you have seen any of my posts but I do feel for your sister in law. I started 5 years ago looking for help and have crossed paths with many people that have problems with the phrenic nerve nad diaphragm. I had the nerve transplant surgery in March or this year and although I've made some great strides I am still waiting for the nerve to make its connection. This is a 10 -14 month process as the regrowth is very slow and as I've said to many of my friends it sucks to be 6'2'' tall when your waiting on a process like this.

The surgery has changed my life for the good. Although I may never have a complete recovery I can once again do the simple things that many take for granite like lay flat on my back w/o grasping fro air, bend over and tie my own shoes, sleep w/o the aid of a c pap machine walk up multiple flights of stairs w/o stopping for a rest because I'm winded. I played tag with my grand children and surprised the family when I was able to run around the way the remembered.

So don't give up hope! My surgen was Dr Mathew Kaufman and he is located in NJ. He is the only Dr. in my 5 years of searching that was able to help me. Hopefully he can helpher too! You can contact him on the web. They advertise on this site I beleive. They are called advanced reconstructive surgery. He called me and interviewed me over the phone before proceeding to the next step. If he does not believe he can help he will not waste you time.
Good luck - Ross