A New Breath on Life: How East Jefferson General Hospital Helped Michelle Steele Breathe Easier Again

Greater New Orleans’ Only Hospital Offering the Endobronchial Valve Procedure for Severe COPD

For years, Michelle Steele, 69, of Metairie, La., couldn’t do the simplest things without losing her breath. She had been living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD—an irreversible lung condition that makes breathing progressively harder—for more than a decade. COPD often develops after years of smoking or long-term exposure to lung irritants, and it can leave patients short of breath, even at rest.

Michelle was a longtime smoker. She lit up her first cigarette when she was 13 years old. “I wanted to quit for a long time,” she said. “But you know how that is. Of course, the doctors told me to quit. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do.”

It took several stops and re-starts, nicotine patches, gum and finally Chantix, a medication that helps reduce nicotine cravings, before Michelle was finally able to crush the habit for good in 2019.

By then, she had already been diagnosed with COPD in 2015. “I started having breathing issues about 10 years ago,” she shared. “I started coughing a lot. At first, inhalers helped. Then they stopped helping. I was at the point where I couldn’t walk a few steps without getting out of breath.”

Everyday life soon became nearly impossible. The few steps to the mailbox might as well have been a mile. When she went shopping, she had to use a motorized cart to get around. And, even then, reaching for things and the entire shopping trip just wore her out.

Breathing—something most people never think twice about—became a constant struggle. Michelle admits there were moments when she wondered how much longer she could keep going.

COPD Put Michelle’s Life on Pause

Michelle loves to garden and grow her own vegetables. But when everyday activities became exhausting, she found herself on the couch watching television more than anything else. “I couldn’t even walk around a store. After a few steps, I couldn’t catch my breath,” she said.

Her COPD had turned once simple routines into uphill battles. “I couldn’t even take a shower without sitting on a chair and using my oxygen. That was horrible.”

By 2023, her condition had worsened. She relied on stronger inhalers like albuterol and used a nebulizer twice a day. But instead of helping, the treatments sometimes made her symptoms worse. “It felt like the medicine was making it harder to breathe,” she said. She was rushed to the emergency room three times that year, each time gasping for air.

Doctors prescribed portable oxygen tanks to help her breathe, but those came with challenges of their own. “They wanted me to drag around an oxygen tank when I could barely breathe,” she said. “There was no way.” Eventually, she switched to a wheeled oxygen system, but her independence felt gone.

A New Hope: A Unique Procedure Offered at East Jefferson General Hospital

When Michelle began pulmonary rehabilitation at East Jefferson General Hospital, she came across a pamphlet about the Zephyr valve procedure. The brochure highlighted Ramsy Abdelghani, MD, an interventional pulmonologist at East Jefferson General Hospital known for offering cutting-edge, minimally invasive treatments for severe COPD and emphysema. East Jefferson is the only hospital in the Greater New Orleans region—and one of only three sites in the entire state—to offer this advanced option.

Michelle made an appointment to see Dr. Abdelghani.

“The way he explained it to me, I wasn’t worried at all,” she said. “There’s no cutting and that made me feel more comfortable. He was very compassionate.”

The Zephyr valve is a tiny, one-way device placed in the airways using a bronchoscope, a flexible tube inserted through the mouth while the patient is under anesthesia. Because there are no surgical incisions, Michelle felt relieved and optimistic about the procedure.

“For people with advanced COPD, trapped air in the lungs can make even simple activities exhausting,” explained Dr. Abdelghani. “The valves block airflow to the most damaged parts of the lungs, allowing trapped air to escape. This lets the healthier lung areas expand and work more efficiently, so patients can breathe more easily. It’s a nonsurgical procedure with a strong success rate.”

To confirm she was a safe candidate, Dr. Abdelghani ordered a CT scan, an imaging test that shows how tissues and organs are functioning. The scan revealed several nodules around her lungs. Although she still qualified for the procedure, he recommended waiting six months to ensure the nodules didn’t become something more worrisome.

“When I first learned I had to wait six months before I could be able to breathe well again, I was not happy,” Michelle said. “But Dr. Abdelghani was being cautious, and I did appreciate that.”

A follow-up CT scan six months later brought relief—no signs of cancer. With that clearance, Michelle was officially approved for the Zephyr valve procedure and underwent the treatment in April 2025.

“The procedure took about an hour,” Michelle said. “My throat could’ve been sore afterward, but it wasn’t. I could breathe well right away.”

Within days, she was walking the hospital halls with the pulmonary rehab team. “It was a new lease on life,” she said. “You don’t realize how good it feels to breathe again.”

“This is one of the only lifelines we can offer our COPD patients,” Dr. Abdelghani said. “For the right patient, these valves can make a dramatic difference. They help people breathe better and many tell us they feel ‘100% better’ or that we ‘gave them their life back’—which was exactly the case for Michelle.”

Patients stay in the hospital for a few days after the procedure for monitoring. Michelle stayed for three days and said the nurses who cared for her were wonderful. She felt fully supported and would recommend East Jefferson General Hospital to anyone.

Breathing Easy Again

Today, Michelle takes her daily inhaler—two puffs of Bevespi in the morning and two at night—and breathes comfortably without oxygen. “As long as I’m doing fine, I won’t have to have the procedure again,” she said. “I can walk anywhere I want and do anything I want.”

Michelle is back to gardening, walking and living the life that COPD once stole from her. Her message to others struggling to breathe?

“Don’t hesitate. This procedure will change your life. It will make you a brand new person and give you your life back. It’s not difficult, and before you know it, you’re back to living.”

For Michelle, that’s exactly what East Jefferson General Hospital and Dr. Abdelghani did—help her breathe, live and thrive again.

To learn more about pulmonary care at East Jefferson General Hospital, visit
East Jefferson General Hospital Tulane Lung Center | LCMC Health