John Cashin

When Fredericksburg resident John Cashin started the COVID Recovery Program at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, his wife, Lindsey Cashin, said he couldn’t climb one step of a staircase with his "drunken legs" and he couldn’t even lift one of his legs to climb into bed. John and Lindsey have four boys — ages 16, 14, 13, and 9. Lindsey is an assistant principal for Stafford County Public Schools and John is an athletic coach and teacher for Spotsylvania County Public Schools. Before COVID, John was extremely active, in great shape, and physically active with his boys. Since their family of six contracted COVID-19 in November 2021, Lindsey had become her husband’s caretaker.

“We all got it around the same time,” Lindsey said, but while she and the children were recovering, she noticed her husband was getting worse. John ended up spending approximately three months in a nearby hospital. Once John was released from the hospital, a hunt was on to get him more help. He couldn’t function on a basic level. He had lost a lot of weight, and while he retained some upper body strength, he had no lower body strength and he was 100%  oxygen dependent.

After an assessment of John’s condition with his pulmonologist and cardiologist, Lindsey discovered a new program at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center for people who were considered “COVID Long Haulers”. The pulmonologist provided a referral, and John meet the criteria to join the program.

After three weeks in the program, John is now able to walk independently up the stairs of their three-level home. “This is big,” Lindsey explained. “When he came home from his hospital stay, he could not move without oxygen and walking was not something he could do for any notable period of time.”

“This program has been more than physical therapy,” John said. “It has also been beneficial mentally. It has boosted my spirit, I now have hope.”

Lindsey praised the flexibility and compassion of the therapists.

“I still work, and take care of him and the boys,” Lindsey said. “John couldn’t do anything before coming here. I not only needed a place for him to get physical help, but I needed someone to understand how tough this has been and continues to be for our family. We are still going through a healing process, and I, too, have some issues from COVID. This is therapy at a higher level for our family. The physical therapy team taking the time to understand our family dynamic and being flexible has also been a gift. It has been instrumental to my husband’s progress. He was down. The entire medical team, from all areas of the hospital have been responsive to us. We’ve had to see a lot of specialists, get X-rays and CT-scans, and it has been seamless. The communication has been so good at this medical facility.”

John’s physical therapist, Karel Wilkinson, said he will be assessed again in six weeks for next steps.

“He may improve enough to graduate," Wilkinson said. "That is our hope.”

She reviews his progress and works with Michaela Fike, physical therapist assistant, in making the treatment plan based on functional outcome assessments. The program allows for the patient to determine recovery goals so that the program is meaningful to them. A goal could be a simple as being able to vacuum a room without a rest break, climb a set of stairs, or return to teaching and coaching.

According to Karen Drilling, director of physical therapy, there are specific criteria that a patient must meet before his/her pulmonologist can recommend a patient to the program. For example, a patient must have at least 20 days of post-COVID active infection. 

“We are on our third patient,” Drilling said. “One has recently graduated and is back at work. That is one of our goals - to help patients get back to their life before COVID.”

“We are so thankful,” Lindsey said. “If ever something happens in the future, we now have a place we know we can come for care and the people truly care. This in now our hospital. We won’t go anywhere else.”