Michael Barnes writes about Austin’s people, places, culture and history.
Thirteen years ago, when Austinite Cherie Matthews was released from the hospital after breast surgery, she was handed two surgical drain bags to carry around.
“But I use my hands,” Matthews, now 53, said. “When I was offered shoe laces and safety pins to manage my post-operative equipment, I asked, ‘Why don’t you offer the right equipment?’ I was told that women have always suffered in silence.”
That answer, perhaps intended ironically, didn’t satisfy the Toronto-born physical educator.
“I have enough Blackfoot Indian in me that I almost had an out of body experience of frustration about why I had to go home and make do,” she says. Not only that, Matthews was released in everyday clothing. “It didn’t work. Movement and breathing were very painful. It hurt to brush my teeth. Standard clothing is difficult at best to get into, never mind the surgical drains protruding from my body.”
So Matthews invented and patented a line of clothing called Heal in Comfort. Her light, loose, moisture-resistant shirts without zippers or buttons include interior pockets to carry surgical drain bags.
“I called it Heal in Comfort instead of Heal in Burlap,” she quips. “There just was no standardized post-operative equipment for women after a mastectomy.”
To ensure that women without sufficient means could take advantage of the invention, Matthews encouraged the founding of a nonprofit — to keep the businesses straight, she does not serve on its board — called Heal in Comfort 4 a Change.
To raise money for the special shirts, the group stages a Be Brave and Fight Like a Girl Party on Thursday at Shoal Crossing.
“So far, we have not turned down one hardship case across America,” she says. “It’s a blessing to able to say: It’s on its way. Heal in comfort and dignity.”
Matthews grew up in Florida where she watched her parents engage in life consciously and creatively. Her father is a retired architect, her mother a veteran of Woodstock, Greenpeace and efforts to save teens on drugs. “Not for pay, for spirit,” Matthews adds.
Her sister, rock stylist and designer Renee Beach, gained underground fame as “Fire Woman” for the Cult, also touring with Motley Crue, Robert Plant and Billy Idol.
Matthews, who gives off a rock ‘n’ roll vibe to this day, was allowed to travel alongside her sister.
What kind of kid was the future inventor of Heal in Comfort? “Self-sufficient, problem solving,” she says. “Never fit in the box, saved animals.”
Although her dad was reasonably well off, Matthews was expected to make it on her own.
“I had to assemble my first car from parts and a manual,” she says. “He was a teaching dad. Everything was an expression of nature to him. He’s still my hero.”
Matthews studied computer engineering at the former Tampa Technical Institute and St. Petersburg College. In Burlington, Vt., IBM drafted her to reverse engineer competitors’ semiconductor chips.
“I had $100 in my pocket, a hug from Dad and I was on my way,” she says. “In New England, I hung with an interesting group of young people who worked really, really hard and played harder. Our goal was to get everything done to get on the ski slopes.”
Twenty-seven years ago, she married Adam Matthews, now an area manager for Progressive Waste Solutions. They have two children, ages 25 and 21.
The couple moved here six years ago and lives in Circle C, where she taught her children to play golf at Grey Rock Golf Club.
Another of her causes these days is First Tee, which lends kids life lessons through golf using modified equipment. She instructs the group’s teachers through the First Tee National School Program.
“We started with 48 children,” she says. “It has since reached millions of kids and is offered in public schools all over America.”
Matthews is convinced that First Tee is a game changer for a lot of kids who need to learn good habits and values.
“Why can’t golf be for all children?” she asks. “That one question has taken us a long way. Colin Powell called it one of the top initiatives for kids in the country.”
As for the breast cancer charity, it partners with almost all the major medical groups in Central Texas. Matthews would like to bring the Veterans Administration hospitals into the fold, too.
“It’s all about comfort,” she says. “My goal is that every single patient in Austin be taken care of — as a gift.”
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