Petty Tributes Continue from Colleagues and Fellow Oxygen Users

DENVER — Oxygen users and others in the pulmonary
community are mourning the loss of a friend and champion, as
witnessed from the tributes that are still appearing on the
Denver Post guest book for the late Tom Petty, MD,
FAARC.

Petty, a pioneer in pulmonary care and, in his later years, an
oxygen user himself, died Dec. 12 at his Colorado home following a
lengthy illness. He was just 12 days shy of his 77th birthday.

“Every person in the world that has been treated for [chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease] today and in the past has had a
better quality of life and lived longer because of Dr. Petty’s
life-long dedication to the cause, including myself,” wrote Rusty
Sherrill, Sophia, N.C. “We owe him much more than words alone can
express … his work and dedication in the pulmonary field of
medicine will continue to benefit us all in the future.”

Petty was a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center in Denver and at Rush-Presbyterian-St.
Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. He  also served as an
adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Kansas and held
consulting positions at numerous other universities and
facilities.

He was widely thought of as the father of pulmonary
rehabilitation. Indeed, his book, Intensive and Rehabilitative
Respiratory Care, written in 1971, is looked upon as the
authority in respiratory care practice. Petty also founded the
National Lung Health Education Program, which championed earlier
detection of COPD by encouraging primary care physicians to use
spirometry.

A pioneer in studying ambulatory oxygen, Petty early on
envisioned the lightweight portable oxygen systems that exist
today, a dream he shared through numerous organizations, including
the American Association for Respiratory Care.

“Many physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists owe a great
deal to him, not just because he spent countless hours helping us
to help our patients, but also because he continued to challenge
and inspire us to do better,” said Sam Giordano, executive director
of AARC.

He not only influenced professionals in the pulmonary community,
he also touched oxygen users themselves. The author and editor of
45 books or editions, including Adventures of an
Oxy-Phile, Petty also interacted with oxygen users through a
question-and-answer column, “Ask Dr. Tom,” that appeared for many
years on the AARC Web site, YourLungHealth.org.

By all accounts a genial man, he had a facility for explaining
medical situations in laymen’s terms. And because, after his third
open-heart surgery, he needed to depend on oxygen himself, he had a
personal understanding of the oxygen user’s life and
challenges.

“Colorado COPD Connection, EFFORTS [Emphysema Foundation for our
Right to Survive] and the entire COPD patient community have lost a
beloved friend and mentor,” wrote Edna Fiore of Littleton, Colo.
“Dr. Tom dedicated his life to improving the quality of life for
respiratory patients. His own need for supplementary oxygen
afforded him a unique insight that has touched the lives and
welfare of patients throughout the world. His legacy and dedication
to all patients will live on in the annual Thomas L. Petty Moving
Mountains COPD Conference and in the body of his published
works.”

Even in his last days, Petty was putting finishing touches on a
new book, Further Adventures of an Oxy-Phile, according to
his Web site, http://drtompetty.org. The book, expected to be
released this spring, includes chapters written by oxygen patients
themselves.

Petty, whose memorial service was Dec. 19, leaves behind an
extended family and close collaborators. He also leaves fellow
oxygen users around the world, one of whom perhaps best explained
his legacy.

“Thank you for all you did for people you never met,” wrote
George Brown of Sierra Vista, Ariz.