Respiratory Stories

Not Settling for the Status Quo

Dov’s parents talked with an extended family member who had been exposed years ago to chemicals at work and was successfully treated at National Jewish Health. “He believes that without that hospital, his quality of life would be significantly different — he would need to live in isolation and be unable to live a normal social life,” said Kops. “So we made an appointment.”

Little Body, Big Battle

What started with a cough and a runny nose, quickly became much more alarming for 17-month-old Ivan Paez’s parents. “All of a sudden he started wheezing, so we took him to a local hospital,” Ivan’s mom Crystal Medrano said. A chest X-ray was performed and Medrano said doctors told her “he just has a cough and will be fine.” Ivan was sent home, but by the next day, Ivan’s cough and other symptoms were only getting worse. He also began developing a fever, prompting a second trip to the hospital. This time, Ivan was diagnosed with croup. “They gave him a dose of steroids and then they sent us home,” Medrano states.

Finding the Answer

Correct Diagnosis of HP Leads to Life-Changing Treatment.

Dr. Silveira found herself becoming the patient. She developed a persistent, dry cough, shortness of breath and fatigue that no amount of naps, long nights of sleep or cutting back on work could cure. Eventually, her declining health hastened her retirement. “I loved what I did and didn’t have any plans to retire, but moving and shaking was not a possibility at the end of my career,” she said. “The fatigue just really slowed me down in terms of steam.”

Finding Care for Sarcoidosis in My Own Backyard

When patients are diagnosed with rare or unusual health conditions, understanding what to do next or where to find care can be daunting. For Diane Wein, a globe-trotting married mother of one, it took a team of doctors at National Jewish Health to get her back on her feet.

A Medical Team Fit for a Determined Toddler

Asher was born with congenital heart and airway defects – soft, narrow airways prone to collapsing, a hole in the heart and no pulmonary artery – the main artery that supplies his lungs with blood. His toddler-sized chest makes treating these conditions difficult. Doctors surgically implanted a pulmonary artery right after birth, but it pushes on his already weak airways, preventing them from staying open.

Wyoming Family Can’t Say Enough ‘Good Things’ About National Jewish Health

Christian McMackin no longer struggles for air. The youngster came to National Jewish Health in 2016 after his parents, Misti and Chris noticed that their son was coughing, wheezing and having difficulty breathing. After spending a week at the nation’s #1 respiratory hospital, Christian’s family had concrete answers about his condition. Misti continues to be pleased with the care her son receives at National Jewish Health and recommends the hospital to others dealing with asthma.

Freedom to Breathe

Nearly 44 years ago, Nancy George was diagnosed with severe asthma. Despite a variety of asthma medications, Nancy was hospitalized two to three times a year for decades. Her condition worsened in recent years.

Rare Genetic Disorder Drives Precision Therapy

It got to the point that Jennifer Gleason’s 5-year- old daughter cried every time she had to leave her mother.

Thorough & Expert Care: Family Twice Blessed

Successful treatment of David Espinosa’s scleroderma inspired a return to National Jewish Health when 8-year-old Remy developed frightening episodes of breathlessness.

Team of Doctors Joins Couple to Battle Lung Cancer

Researchers are evaluating strategies to combine immunotherapy with chemotherapy and to use it at earlier stages to further improve outcomes. They are also working to understand and prevent skin rashes, the most common side effect, which can be severe enough to interrupt therapy for some patients.

Searching For Answers

The second time Lillian Downs got COVID-19, she came to National Jewish Health. When infectious disease expert Jared Eddy, MD, saw Lillian before an antibody infusion, he realized that she needed a more extensive evaluation.

Life Gets Back on the Green

Even over the phone, Michael Brown’s voice is a hypodermic of pure energy. Indeed, the first word neurologist Jinny Tavee, MD, uses to describe him these days is “ebullient.” But it wasn’t always this way.

A Long Journey

Twelve-year-old AJ Salgado-Rael has been accustomed to taking health precautions for as long as he can remember. “He was three when doctors discovered he has XLA immunodeficiency,” Sabrina Salgado-Rael, AJ’s mom, said. XLA immunodeficiency is an inherited inability to make antibodies that help fight infections. AJ receives antibody infusions regularly at National Jewish Health to strengthen his immunity.

Joining Forces To Fight Deployment-Related Lung Disease

John Sepulveda arrived in Afghanistan in 2011 in peak form and proud to serve in the Air Force. His role was crucial, and he didn’t want to let down his fellow airmen, or his country. So, when he got sick less than a month into his deployment, he decided to tough it out. “That was the worst thing I could have done,” said Sepulveda.

Changing Gears and Adding Years: A Hot Rodder’s Recovery Story

In September of 2021, Cascio-Weldon got sick with what seemed like just a cold. When his symptoms worsened, he visited his local doctor, who informed him that he was simply dealing with post-COVID syndrome, as he had been infected a few months earlier. However, this wasn’t the case. “Come December, I just wasn’t getting any better. In fact, I was getting worse. My skin was gray, literally gray,” Cascio-Weldon said. 
 

Back in the Game

Last spring, eight-year-old Genesis Avila began waking up during the night struggling to breathe. Her rescue inhaler, designed to relax the airways and allow air to move in and out of the lungs, was not helping. 

Pilot Returns to the Skies After Bronchiectasis Treatment

In 2017, as he began to suffer multiple bouts of bronchitis and mysterious sinus infections, pilot Tim Farquhar’s wings were in danger of being clipped.

Malik & Kaori Davenport

Katie Hastie knows her boys, Malik and Kaori Davenport, will receive a quality education and that their health will be closely monitored every day at the National Jewish Health Morgridge Academy for chronically ill children. She doesn’t believe another school in Colorado could provide her that peace of mind. Malik are Kaori, who are in the fifth and sixth grades, respectively, were both born with cystic fibrosis.

Teen Returned to Health

Mouhamed, now 14, spent his childhood as a healthy young man who enjoyed socializing with friends, playing football and spending time around animals. He showed no signs of serious health conditions – until late 2018 after returning from vacation in Algeria.

Riding the Rails

Tom Montgomery, of Cambridge, Illinois, visited National Jewish Health by rail to clarify his diagnosis and change his treatment plan.

Natalie Sublet

Natalie Sublet suffered smoke inhalation that injured her lungs during a house fire in 2016. The specialized care available at National Jewish Health for chronically ill children allows the first-grader to attend school with peers, rather than being taught at home by a tutor. Her mother, Angie, is grateful to the school for providing Natalie a quality education and a sense of normalcy. 

Digging Deeper to Find Answers

When breathing difficulties forced Nancy Deans to her knees, she had to give up her passion, barrel racing. Pulmonologist Don Rollins, MD, and his colleagues got Nancy back in the saddle.

Morgridge Academy Provides Peace of Mind for Parents of Chronically Ill Children

Dane Orion Cuesta is a living miracle. The 12-year-old is among a rare group of children who survive a double lung transplant. To assure that Dane not only survives, but also thrives, he attends Morgridge Academy for chronically ill children, a free day school.

Looking Beyond the Lungs

Being knocked down by unrelenting breathing problems was not something with which Travis White was familiar. In his early 70s, Travis was living an active retirement, splitting his time between Austin, Texas and Incline Village, Nevada, when his breathing problems came about somewhat suddenly.

Lewis Hoch

Unable to control his asthma as a young man, Lewis Hoch moved to Denver in 1970 to seek treatment at National Jewish Health and to start college at the University of Denver. The quality care he received at the nation’s #1 respiratory hospital helped him regain control of his asthma and taught him how to better manage his condition.

Specialized Care Helping Cystic Fibrosis Patient Breathe Easier

Kendrick Trujillo

Breath control is something every performer must master. For dancers, good breathing technique can add not only to endurance, but also to fluidity and grace. It can add power to an actor’s speech. Breath control is especially important and challenging for 18-year old Kendrick Trujillo, who suffers from severe asthma and allergies. Thanks to his multidisciplinary team at National Jewish Health, Trujillo has mastered breath control well enough to pursue dance and theatre studies as he heads off to college.

Living the Sweet Life with Alpha-1

Judy got the test for Alpha-1, and it came back positive. She began weekly augmentation therapy at National Jewish Health and has felt a great relief of her symptoms. 

His Life…And His Choice

When Caleb Norder first tried vaping before his freshman year in high school, it seemed fun and cool. Everybody was doing it — kids in the back of the bus, in the school bathrooms and even in class.

Former Asthma Patient Runs 100th Half-Marathon for National Jewish Health

Fifty years after receiving life-saving asthma care at National Jewish Health, Kevin Buron
used his passion for running to raise funds for the hospital.

Eric White

Eric White began New Year’s Day 2016 as many did, feeling a little tired and rundown from celebrating the evening before. Within 24 hours, the previously healthy 39-year-old would be fighting for breath — and his life.

Carole Goldstein

Most birthday celebrants choose to spend their birthdays with those most near and dear to them. That is precisely why I chose to have my semi-annual checkup at National Jewish Health on my 71^st birthday on May 10, 2016.

Bettyann Slatten

Bettyann Slatten of St. Louis has been to some of the best hospitals in the country – including Washington University –  and going to National Jewish Health was eye opening. Read Bettyann’s Story.

Help for Leylany

Every year almost 10 percent of babies in the United States are born prematurely. These tiniest of patients must be cared for in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) where they receive care that helps them survive, grow and develop. The challenges, however, are not over when premature babies leave the NICU.