Jennifer Meese-Cherry learned the hard way that wearing gloves while operating a table saw can be dangerous.

In April 2022, she had a life-altering accident when the saw grabbed her glove, pulling her hand into the blade and nearly severing three of her fingers. “There was a brief moment where I was like, ‘Did that seriously just happen?’” Meese-Cherry recalls. “I looked at my hand and thought, ‘Oh yeah, that definitely happened.’”

Seeking specialized care

After the accident, Meese-Cherry was taken to a hospital near her home in western Iowa, where doctors discussed stitching up her fingers and amputating them a few days later. She and her sister-in-law pushed for a specialist consultation, leading to a bumpy ambulance ride to Nebraska Medical Center. “These weren’t full amputations, but they were one step away from it for all of her digits,” says Joseph Morgan, MD, the orthopaedic surgeon and hand specialist who worked with Meese-Cherry. “She had severe lacerations to three of her fingers, with the index finger basically amputated and damaged arteries to the long and ring fingers.”

Seven hours of intricate surgery

The initial surgery lasted seven hours, during which Dr. Morgan performed multiple arterial repairs to save Meese-Cherry’s fingers. The damage was extensive –severed arteries, tendons and nerves, along with fractured bones and severe soft tissue damage. In an innovative approach, Dr. Morgan used cadaver nerves to replace the damaged ones. “Because Nebraska Medical Center is a teaching hospital, they were able to do things that most other places can’t,” says Meese-Cherry, who found humor even in this serious situation. As an avid gamer whose online name, or tag, is “Zombie Cherry,” she jokes, “When he told me that I had cadaver nerves in me, I remember shooting my hands up in the air and saying, ‘I am my gamer tag!’”

A complex recovery journey

Despite maintaining her sense of humor and optimism, Meese-Cherry’s recovery proved challenging. She underwent multiple surgeries over the following months. “We had to restore blood flow to the fingertip nerve function and tendon function so the bones would move, and then ultimately make sure that the skin healed over it to keep it covered,” Dr. Morgan says. “So, we took a step-by-step approach to that.” One particularly innovative procedure was a cross-finger flap surgery, where Dr. Morgan temporarily sewed two of her fingers together for three weeks to allow skin from one finger to grow into the other. “It was mind-blowingly cool. I felt like a Ninja Turtle for a while,” Meese-Cherry says.

The power of support and determination

Throughout her recovery, Meese-Cherry’s wife, Hayley, was her biggest supporter, working from home to help whenever needed. Her niece, Sheridan, a tattoo artist, decorated her bandages and brace with artwork and kept her in good spirits. Occupational therapy played an important role in Meese-Cherry’s recovery. She worked with Nebraska Medicine certified hand therapists with a focus on regaining basic hand movements. Her dedication to rehabilitation and positive outlook were key parts of Meese-Cherry’s recovery, according to Dr. Morgan. “There’s a lot of therapy involved, and patients really have to be committed to doing the work – and she absolutely did,” he says. “This was by no means a straight shot to the finish. There were lots of little hills and valleys and surprises where we had to switch gears, and she rolled with it and took it in stride.”

Life after recovery

Today, while Meese-Cherry’s hand isn’t exactly as it was before – she has occasional sensitivity issues and grip problems – she has regained remarkable function. Though she can no longer play guitar, she maintains a positive outlook and continues to adapt to her new normal. Her advice to others facing similar injuries? “Follow your doctor’s orders to a T,” and to stay focused on a full recovery despite the challenges. “I always tell people, ‘It hurts because you’re getting better.’” For Dr. Morgan, Meese-Cherry’s case represents an absolute success story. “After such a huge series of operations and nearly losing these three fingers in her initial injury, to have a relatively normal outcome is pretty phenomenal.”