Superman's Sidekick
Actor Christopher Reeve's home health nurse draws courage and inspiration from the Man of Steel's resolve to fully recover from spinal cord injury

By Carol Lindsay, RN
November 11, 2002

Dolly Arro, RN, had a pretty routine life for an ICU nurse with 10 years' experience. She felt settled into her career and comfortable enough to occasionally take on part-time home health assignments.

One day, a co-worker offered her a private home health assignment with a vent-dependent quadriplegic. She accepted the assignment without even knowing the patient's name.

Before leaving to go to her new patient's home, she telephoned her co-worker to double-check the details of the assignment.

"Do you know who Superman is?" Arro's friend asked matter-of-factly. "Superman" was a well-known movie even in the Philippines, where Arro grew up.

Arro immediately knew what her friend was saying. She was going to be Superman's nurse.

"I couldn't even talk," Arro said, as she reminisced about the moment she found out her patient would be actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in a horseback riding accident in 1995.

Seven years later, just as Reeve is turning 50 and reporting that he has regained some sense of touch and the ability to move one of his fingers, the Philippines-born nurse finds herself a reluctant celebrity because of her association with her famous boss.

"She is worth her weight in gold," Reeve said of Arro in a recent documentary, "Courageous Steps," narrated by the star and directed by his son Matthew Reeve.

Reeve, a fan of his medical staff, encouraged Arro to talk to NURSEWEEK about her relationship with him.

Alice in Wonderland

Just as Reeve isn't the typical home health patient, Arro didn't find home health nursing in the typical way.

She first arrived in New York on a cold, damp December day in 1985. But it wouldn't be just the weather that would come as a shock to the nurse who described her first moments in a U.S. hospital as if she were Alice in Wonderland, surveying her strange environment with wonder and fear.

Arro was in awe of what would seem to any American a simple advance in technology. Her medical experience in the Philippines, limited to the rudimentary resources of a government hospital, did not prepare her for the possibilities of modern medical technology. "I was blown away by equipment like electronic thermometers," she said.

As Reeve's chief nurse, Arro has come a long way in her career from her first days as a nurse in the Philippines.

The first time Arro walked into the Reeve house, the actor's wife, Dana, was fixing breakfast for the couple's 3-year-old son. She pointed to the room where her husband was with the nurse who was caring for him at the time.

"The first thing I saw were those blue eyes. I thought to myself, 'Those are piercing blue eyes,' " Arro said.

Arro spent three hours observing the nurse who was caring for Reeve. "My orientation included watching and filing information in my brain." The nurse used a device called a coughalator, which Arro had never seen before. Having a background in ICU, her only experience with clearing secretions for ventilator patients was the use of wall suction. This machine was different because it alternately applies positive then negative pressure to the patient's airway to clear secretions. The process is repeated until the lungs are clear.

"I practiced that over and over in my brain. That was the extent of my orientation," Arro said.

Two days later, with no hands-on training, Arro found herself alone caring for Reeve. "I still don't know how I did it, or what possessed me to just go there and do it with no training. I worried about something happening, but then I thought, I will just use my critical care nursing skills. A patient is a patient," she said.

Arro decided to focus on her experience and her nursing skills to plan what needed to be done to make sure her patient was OK. "I amazed myself," she said.

Patient privacy

Because Reeve is a patient with celebrity status, Arro has to take special precautions to respect his privacy. All of Reeve's medical staff sign special confidentiality agreements. Arro also values the close relationship she has developed with the Reeve family during the last seven years.

"I clicked with Chris, Dana and the kids." After two years of working part time, Arro quit her job in ICU and went to work for Reeve full time. "You are in the home every day and you see things differently than in a clinical setting. You meet relatives and family and you have to work hard to respect the patient's privacy."

While Arro has a close relationship with Reeve, she is constantly aware that she is there to assist him as a nurse and care for him. "You blend into the family, but you are not family. We are friends; however, I refrain from being too involved in what is going on, even though I am involved.

"It is their life and I have my life. There is a demarcation line. The dynamics are very intricate and we respect one another," she said.

Arro is a busy nurse. She is head nurse for Reeve's staff of two full-time RNs and a group of per diem nurses. She is always on call.

Perks come with working for a high-profile patient. Reeve travels a great deal and where he goes, Arro goes. On day trips, Arro takes one nurse and two aides with her, but on longer trips she schedules additional staff. They have traveled to as many as eight states in a month. Traveling is not a problem for Arro; she enjoys it. "If Chris said, 'Dolly, I am going to the moon,' I would say, 'When?' "

Mission to walk

Shortly after his accident, Reeve announced publicly that he would walk by his 50th birthday. His birthday passed Sept. 25, and unfortunately, Reeve was not able to report that he had reached the milestone he felt would mark his full recovery. Instead, he has regained his sense of touch and feeling in one of his fingers.

It is that kind of determination and positive thinking that Arro believes will decide Reeve's ultimate success in recovery, and Arro is proud to be a part of it.

"If the doctor says, 'After two years you will not recover,' he will prove them wrong," she said. Arro also believes that Reeve's desire to work for a recovery is unprecedented. Whether exercising on the bike, mat or in the pool, Reeve is the first to say it is time to exercise. If he is forced to miss a day of exercise because of travel, he always makes it up. "He never takes no for an answer," Arro said.

Man of steel

A responsibility comes along with being Superman, Arro said. People expect extraordinary things from celebrities and Reeve is no exception, especially being tagged the "Man of Steel."

Arro said that Reeve has had advantages that other quadriplegics lack. One special advantage Reeve has had in his quest is top-of-the line equipment. He has access to an electrical stimulation machine, exercise bike and, recently, a pool.

Arro admits that she is happy that Reeve has access to the best technology, but feels a sense of frustration that other quadriplegics do not have similar equipment because insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid will not approve funding.

"For Chris, I am happy, but I feel bad for the majority of people who do not have this technology," she said.

But it is more than just his celebrity and financial advantage that keeps Arro in awe of Reeve's progress.

Arro believes that because Reeve is the first documented case of a quadriplegic who has exercised so intensely for so many years, he can serve as an example for quadriplegics with less tangible advantages.

"Being Superman lets everyone in the world know that something can be done. He is a messenger to the scientific world, the politicians, to everyone," she said.

Reeve's activism in the area of stem cell research has been highly publicized, and Arro has been at his side every step of the way. She even went with Reeve to Washington, D.C., when he testified before the Senate about his belief in the need for stem cell research.

Arro said she was shocked that few senators attended the hearing and that they sent their aides instead. She said she was disappointed that politicians voted on legislation they had not thoroughly investigated.

"How can representatives of your state sponsor or support legislation that have negative effects on the constituents? They disregard things that are for the people," she said.

Arro believes that because of Reeve and his celebrity status, public awareness of spinal cord injuries has grown and that his remarkable progress will compel scientists, politicians, insurance companies and doctors to change their way of thinking.

"Because of Chris, spinal cord injury has made it on the map, moving from the graveyard of neuroscience," Arro said.

She sees rehabilitation shifting its focus from teaching quadriplegics to accept their disability's lifestyle to one where they are encouraged to find the best medical and rehabilitative regimen they can, so they function better when there is a cure.

"The doctors won't say, 'You have a spinal cord injury, you will never walk again,' " she said.

Quitting time

As Reeve continues his journey toward recovery, Arro plans to continue to be by his side, not only because she believes in his cause but because she feels Reeve helps keep her own life in perspective.

"Just looking at Dana and Chris gives me courage. They are part of me. They put one foot in front of the other, breathe in and out and wake up every day hoping the next day will be better," Arro said.

Arro says she finds it difficult to complain about anything in her life. "I look at my own life and sometimes I complain, then I think of him. He can't do for himself, but he just keeps going and going," she said.

Arro said that saving a life in the hospital is gratifying, but participating in Reeve's recovery is contributing to a possible cure for millions who are suffering. "This is just so wild, I could die just thinking about it," she said.

Although Arro loves working with Reeve on his recovery, she said she "dreams of the day" she is fired.

"I hope they call me very soon and say, 'Chris can breathe and walk-you're fired,' " Arro said.

Reeve's medical staff and even Reeve himself say they share Arro's sentiment. Although Reeve is a special patient who inspires his staff, their goal is his recovery, and Arro is confident that day will come. In fact, she says she plans to update her résumé soon because she thinks it's only a matter of time before she needs it.

Contact Carol Lindsay at carollindsay@earthlink.net