Louis Darden was so frail and weak from emphysema he could barely lift a coffee cup. In his words, he was “resisting life, instead of living it.” That changed when he finally agreed to undergo lung volume reduction surgery which involved removing the top part of each of his lungs. Do so removed the diseased parts of the lungs and allowed the rest of the lungs to function more effectively by providing “room” to breathe.

 

The surgery came about after Louis was referred to the Advanced Lung Disease Program at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute where he met Dr. Steve Nathan. After undergoing numerous tests and examinations, he was referred to Dr. Paul Kiernan for the surgery.

 

“Dr. Kiernan required me to do pulmonary rehabilitation before the surgery so that I would be strong enough to tolerate the operation.” When the date of surgery finally came about, Louis expected to be in the hospital for a little over two weeks. In fact, he did so well in surgery and recovered so well, that he left the hospital after just 12 days. Louis credits his faster than average recovery not only to the nurses and staff at the hospital, but also to Dr. Kiernan who came to see him 3-4 times a day in the hospital and always kept Louis and his family completely informed of everything that was happening with his care.

 

Now, Louis is in rehabilitation four days a week and less than a year later has gained 46 pounds and is strong enough to lift 100 pounds above his head. He says of Dr. Kiernan, “I owe that man my life.”