Groundbreaking Stony Brook Surgery Benefits Famed Chef

A Stony Brook surgeon is the first on Long Island to perform a surgery to implant a diaphragm pacing system for a patient with Lou Gehrig's Disease – a patient who happens to be a famed chef.

Gerry Hayden, co-owner of North Fork Table and Inn in Southold and the only Long Island chef to be nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award given to the best chef in the northeastern U.S., suffers from the disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The diaphragm pacing system (DPS), implanted by Dr. Dana Telem, will help him breathe without the assistance of mechanical ventilators for a longer period of time.

Hayden said in a statement that "the breathing part of the disease is the worst."

“I hope that this will prolong my diaphragm so that it can continue to work on its own,” he said. “I was very happy I was a candidate for it. If we can get the word out about it, it can help more ALS patients."

Telem said in a statement that in a FDA study of the diaphragm pacing system, it showed a 16-month improvement in survival for patients who experience chronic hypoventilation as a result of the disease.

“Traditionally, we were only able to assist these types of patients with ventilators, which can be cumbersome and not well tolerated by many patients," she said.

Hayden is being treated at the Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence at Stony Brook, which is named for Chris Penderagst, a 20-year survivor of ALS. Pendergast lauded the hospital's surgical team for its successful groundbreaking surgery.

"Stony Brook Hospital’s bold decision illustrates forward thinking and the desire to bring cutting-edge medicine to Long Island’s residents," Pendergast said in a statement. "With DPS, they now have a weapon that hopefully will prove useful in improving the status of a selective group of ALS patients. It is literally and figuratively a ‘sigh of relief.’"