Newswise — Cloyd Goley of Farmersville, Ohio was suffering from a debilitating lung disease when he read a newspaper story that gave him hope.
The Dayton Daily News article explained how the Rev. Joseph Kyles, a Chicago minister with pulmonary fibrosis, returned to the pulpit on Easter Sunday for the first time after a life-saving double-lung transplant performed by Wickii Vigneswaran, MD at Loyola University Medical Center.
“It’s a resurrection for me, too,” Rev. Kyles said in the article. “I am back from the dead.”
Mr. Goley, who also has pulmonary fibrosis, immediately called Loyola after reading the story. “I thought that if Loyola took such good care of Pastor Kyles, they could do the same for me,” he said.
On June 10, Mr. Goley underwent his own double-lung transplant. The surgery, also successful, was performed at Loyola by Jeffrey Schwartz, MD.
Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive lung disease that causes lung tissue to become thick, stiff and scarred. As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe. Before their transplants, Mr. Goley and Rev. Kyles both were tethered to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day. Mr. Goley recalled that despite breathing supplemental oxygen, walking just a few steps would leave him gasping for breath. Rev. Kyles said he was so exhausted there were days when he could barely get out of bed in the morning.
“We are pleased that Mr. Goley was inspired by Rev. Kyles to come to Loyola,” said Loyola pulmonologist and lung transplant specialist Sana Quddus, MD. “Mr. Goley is making an excellent recovery. He and Rev. Kyles are examples of the tremendous difference that lung transplantation can make in patients who have pulmonary fibrosis and other severe lung diseases.”
A week after the transplant, Rev. Kyles stopped by to visit Mr. Goley and they compared notes on their surgery and recovery.
Mr. Goley recalled that despite breathing supplemental oxygen, walking just a few steps would leave him gasping for breath. Rev. Kyles said he was so exhausted there were days when he could barely get out of bed in the morning.
Mr. Goley is now off oxygen and breathing freely, while Rev. Kyles is working toward his goal of walking 10,000 steps a day.
“You look fantastic,” Rev. Kyles told Mr. Goley.
“I feel great,” Mr. Goley responded.
Mr. Goley told Rev. Kyles he would love to bring his friends and family to Promise Church of Chicago to see Rev. Kyles preach. Rev. Kyles said that would be an honor.Loyola has performed more than 800 lung transplants, by far the most of any center in Illinois. Last year, Loyola performed more lung transplants than the three other Illinois lung transplant programs combined. In May, 2014, Loyola became the only center in Illinois to perform five successful lung transplants in just over 24 hours.
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