Cheryl Douglass, former NRH patient, is being honored at the 24th annual Gala Victory Awards.® She is a true survivor and an inspiration for her extraordinary strength and courage.
Cheryl grew up traveling between California and Virginia because her father was a Navy officer. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she met her husband, Paul. After graduating from college, Cheryl worked for the LA Police Department as an Administrative Assistant. She was one of the first females and civilians to work in the LAPD.
In 1972, Cheryl married Paul and the couple moved to Washington, DC where Paul earned his law degree. A travel aficionado, Cheryl decided to pursue a career in teaching as she was very attracted to the vacation time it offered. Fortunately, she grew to enjoy this career and began teaching first through third grade. After taking time off to have her two children, Patrick and Claire, Cheryl received her Masters in Special Education from the University of Virginia and taught Special Education in Arlington County until her retirement in 2006.
Cheryl and Paul traveled often during summer vacations. Although they visited Europe most often, they also took trips to Mexico and to China where Patrick lived for three years. In addition to traveling, Cheryl was always very active. She especially loved playing tennis and going on mile walks with friends.
However, life changed drastically for Cheryl in February of 2008. Cheryl contracted a bacterial infection of the blood called Group A Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome. This rare and often fatal condition led to toxic shock, stopping blood flow to her extremities and requiring the amputation of her arms and legs to save her life.
Cheryl was in a drug-induced state in the ICU at Georgetown University Hospital for six weeks. After waking up from sedation, Cheryl spent about a week in the hospital. It was there that she had her first occupational and physical therapy and simply learned how to sit on the edge of the bed.
Cheryl’s family did a lot of research while she was in a coma and decided that NRH would be the best place for Cheryl’s rehabilitation. Cheryl was transferred to NRH on April 2, 2008 to begin the next step in her journey to recovery. Initially, Cheryl had extremely limited movement and was unable to even lift her arms or legs off the bed. However, Cheryl grew stronger each day and focused on core and body strengthening.
One of her greatest experiences at NRH was when her therapists took her to do hydrotherapy in the pool. Cheryl had not stood up on her prosthetic legs in four months and had no idea how it would feel, but really enjoyed the exercise. Of course, her recovery was also challenging at times. She recalls kneeling up to a table at NRH and feeling sea sick because she was not used to keeping her head upright from a seated position.
“NRH is like a small town, a little family where everyone knows how you are doing,” says Cheryl, who was also honored at NRH’s Length of Service dinner this past May. “Everyone is encouraging you to try harder, to do better.” Overall, Cheryl’s rehabilitation at NRH was enormously successful. She is very thankful to the many dedicated doctors, therapists and nurses who helped her along the way. Despite the difficulties she faced, Cheryl declares, “If you do what they tell you to do, even if you are scared, you are going to be alright.”
After a lot of dedication and practice with her prosthetic limbs, Cheryl was able to walk out of NRH on June 10, 2008. Today, Cheryl is doing remarkably well and can perform the tasks of everyday life that most people take for granted. She is grateful to NRH because as she explains, “They give you the thought processes, the confidence to know that you will be able to get back to normal life. NRH was key in that way. It wasn’t just the skills that they taught but also their attitude that allows you to know that when you get out of here, you will be okay.”
Cheryl continues to work on her rehabilitation and goes to outpatient physical therapy when she is at home in Chevy Chase. She is also working on a cookbook for upper extremity amputees. Cheryl picks a recipe and does the cooking while a friend gives techniques and tips to make the process easier and faster. Ideally, they will give the finished cookbook to the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) so they could sell it to the companies that manufacture prosthetic arms and hands. Along with her cooking project, Cheryl is paying it forward to other amputees. She is a certified mentor and visits soldiers and patients in hospitals. Cheryl hopes to volunteer at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “Having four {prosthetic limbs}, if I walk in to see somebody with only one amputation they may feel more optimistic.”
Cheryl has a number of goals for the future. She looks forward to purchasing a modified car so she can put her driver’s license to use. She hopes to resume her daily walks and is eager to return to the tennis court. Cheryl also travels to California for the ACA conference each year. This is a great place for Cheryl and Paul to find out about the latest and greatest technology as well as the political issues surrounding this topic. At this year’s conference, Cheryl discovered an improved socket system with enhanced feet and an ankle. She is excited about these new improvements and is anxiously waiting in California for arm sockets that will allow for greater circulation.
Cheryl’s primary message about her experience is simple: “It’s not the end of the world, you are temporarily disabled but you will get back to a normal life. Don’t feel badly about using your family and friends, they help enormously. Also, you can’t be shy about going outdoors or else you will end up staying indoors all of the time. Get out there and don’t care what people think of you.”
-- Danielle Servetnick