There may be some new help for people living with a severe, persistent form of asthma.
Just over 10 percent of Georgians live with asthma. Most sufferers can manage their symptoms with medication, but some can't.
Richard Volk's asthma was as debilitating as it gets. It controlled his life. He couldn't work or do much of anything else.
"It ruined my life. I had no life. I had no social life. I had no business life. No life at all," said Volk.
Asthmatics like Volk can breathe in just fine, but then their airways constrict, making breathing out nearly impossible.
"Asthma attacks, I couldn't catch my breathe, couldn't breathe," said Volk.
Admitted to the hospital 22 times last year, Volk was out of options.
"I told my mom at one point, I'd rather be dead," said Volk.
Then he heard about a brand new treatment at his Orlando, Fla. hospital, that may offer hope to severe asthmatics like Volk.
The FDA approved bronchial thermoplasty at the beginning of 2012.
Doctors insert a camera down the throat into the lungs. Then a small device uses heat to force and keep open individual airways. Three procedures later, most asthma patients can breathe again.
"So some of these patients who are severe persistent asthmatics might now be considered mild. Some of them have never had an asthma attack since, "said Dr. Mark Vollenweider.
Volk is one of those. He says bronchial thermoplasty gave him back his life.
"I'm like 'Oh my God!' I'm not wheezing. I've got more energy. People told me I had color again," Volk said.
"This is a procedure that you can't walk and now you can walk. You can't run and now you're running marathons, you know. You're not working and now you're working. That's amazing," said Vollenweider.
Only a handful of U.S. hospitals are doing bronchial thermoplasty. Richard Volk is just the second patient in Florida breathing easier because of it.
"I feel like a human being again," said Volk.
According to the company that makes the device, there are two Georgia hospitals offering bronchial thermoplasty: Emory University Hospital and Eastside Medical Center in Snellville. If you are considering it, you should check with your insurance company to see if it's covered.
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A new treatment is helping control Richard Volk's asthma.
