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 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than 1 million Americans require supplemental oxygen to get through the day. The standard device -- called a nasal cannula -- delivers oxygen through the nose. It's bulky, uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing. Now, there's a solution that lets patients breathe and live freely.
Two years ago, Ruth McCoy was on top of the world. Everything changed when this young grandmother took some aspirin for a headache -- a total of 10 in two days.
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"Sometime during the night, I guess I passed out on the floor," McCoy told Ivanhoe.
She had a severe reaction to the pain killer and was in a coma for two weeks. She lost 75 percent of her lung function.
"He said, 'Your lungs are shot,'" McCoy said.
She was confined to a wheelchair and had to be on oxygen 24/7. That meant wearing this nasal device everywhere she went.
"Everybody stared at you when you would go in public," McCoy said. "I didn't have any self-esteem. It took away from my self-esteem."
 The tubes left sores around her nose and ears and drained her energy. Then McCoy met Dr. Christine Lau, who told her about an innovative procedure. Instead of going through the nose, doctors made a small incision in McCoy's neck. A catheter delivers oxygen through the trachea.
"It's going directly to your lungs," Christine Lau, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va., told Ivanhoe.
Patients get more oxygen with each breath. One study found those who receive oxygen this way live an average two years longer. The incision is hidden. Patients wear the tubing under their clothes, and their oxygen tanks can be discreetly stored in a handbag.
"This is something that at least we can offer them that is lifestyle-changing for them," Dr. Lau said.
McCoy cut her oxygen flow in half and now has energy to shop around town ... and, she can do it without being the center of attention.
"It totally changed my life," McCoy said.
 This procedure -- called trans-tracheal oxygen -- costs about $1,000 and is usually covered by insurance. Dr. Lau says there are very few risks, but they include bleeding and pain. Patients might need oxygen for a variety of conditions, such as emphysema, COPD, cystic fibrosis or inhalation burns.
More Information
Click here for additional research on Secret Oxygen Supply
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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com
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