{"id":125086,"date":"2025-09-12T22:58:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T03:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=125086"},"modified":"2025-09-12T22:58:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T03:58:56","slug":"game-not-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Not Over"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

How an Iowa Woman Beat the Odds After a Devastating Hand Injury?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In April 2022, Jennifer Meese-Cherry experienced a life-changing accident while using a table saw. Her glove got caught in the blade, pulling her hand in and nearly severing three fingers. Initially, she was told amputation was the likely outcome. But determined to explore every option, Jennifer sought a second opinion and was transferred to Nebraska Medical Center \u2014 a decision that changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Jennifer Meese-Cherry with Dr. Joseph Morgan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Orthopaedic surgeon and hand specialist Dr. Joseph Morgan <\/a>performed a highly complex seven-hour surgery to save her fingers. The injuries were extensive: severed arteries, tendons, and nerves, fractured bones, and massive tissue loss. One of the most innovative aspects of her surgery was the use of cadaver nerves to replace her own \u2014 a technique not commonly available outside of major academic medical centers. She also underwent a \u201ccross-finger flap\u201d procedure, where two fingers were temporarily sewn together to allow healthy skin to grow and cover the damaged site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road to recovery was just as intense as the surgery. Jennifer required several additional operations and a long course of occupational therapy focused on retraining hand movement, restoring tendon function, and regaining strength. One of her biggest cheerleaders was her wife, Hayley, who worked from home to support her every step of the way. Her niece kept her spirits high with creative bandage artwork, and therapists at Nebraska Medicine provided specialized hand therapy to rebuild function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Jennifer has regained impressive mobility. Although she deals with occasional sensitivity and grip challenges \u2014 and has had to give up playing guitar \u2014 she approaches life with humor and gratitude. Her advice to others: \u201cFollow your doctor\u2019s orders to a T,\u201d and, \u201cIt hurts because you\u2019re getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Dr. Morgan, Jennifer\u2019s journey represents the best of what expert care and personal resilience can achieve. \u201cTo nearly lose three fingers and now have this level of function \u2014 that\u2019s nothing short of phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","author_override-unmc-department-of-orthopaedic-surgery-and-rehabilitation"],"yoast_head":"\nGame Not Over<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Game Not Over\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T03:58:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T03:58:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Faith Buso\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Faith Buso\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Faith Buso\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9\"},\"headline\":\"Game Not Over\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-13T03:58:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T03:58:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":333,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/\",\"name\":\"Game Not Over\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-13T03:58:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T03:58:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/game-not-over\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Game Not Over\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/unmcedu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/unmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/iamunmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9\",\"name\":\"Faith Buso\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/author\\\/a8f15eda80c50adb0e71943adc8015cf\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Game Not Over","description":"After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Game Not Over","og_description":"After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2025-09-13T03:58:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-13T03:58:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Faith Buso","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Faith Buso","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/"},"author":{"name":"Faith Buso","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9"},"headline":"Game Not Over","datePublished":"2025-09-13T03:58:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T03:58:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/"},"wordCount":333,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/","name":"Game Not Over","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-13T03:58:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T03:58:56+00:00","description":"After a traumatic hand injury left a patient with severely damaged fingers, Dr. Joseph Morgan employed an innovative surgical technique to restore mobility and function\u2014demonstrating the power of precision medicine and compassionate care.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Morgan_Web-Newsletter.jpg","width":500,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/12\/game-not-over\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Game Not Over"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/661daf81bb5a607a7466d1bc80af80d9","name":"Faith Buso","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/a8f15eda80c50adb0e71943adc8015cf\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125086"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125733,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125086\/revisions\/125733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}