As a learning partner with FMOL Health in Jackson, Shannon Ivy spends her days welcoming new team members, teaching professional development classes and helping others grow in their careers.
She’s used to supporting people. She never expected to be the one who needed support.
On March 12, Shannon did what most people have done at one time or another. She accidentally slammed her hand in a car door.
“It hurt really bad,” she remembers. “But I thought it would be OK.”
She wrapped her hand in a towel, went to bed and planned to carry on with life the next morning. She even taught a class before anyone convinced her to have it checked.
An X-ray revealed an open fracture. The bone in her dominant hand had broken through the skin.
“This is an emergency,” the nurse practitioner told her.
Within days, Shannon underwent surgery to repair her shattered fifth metacarpal. Surgeons inserted a screw that will remain in her hand for life. Almost immediately afterward, she began occupational therapy at St. Dominic Outpatient Rehabilitation.
She had no idea just how important those appointments would become.
It’s Never Just Your Hand
A hand injury sounds straightforward until you realize how many everyday tasks depend on it.
For Shannon, recovery wasn’t about returning to hobbies or exercise first. It was about learning to write again. Buttoning clothes. Holding a coffee cup. Carrying groceries. Even steering a car.
“I couldn’t write for a couple of months,” she says. “I couldn’t button buttons. Holding a pen was hard. Drinking from a cup the normal way was difficult. You don’t realize how much you use every part of your hand until one part stops working.”
Simple movements become exhausting. The muscles weaken quickly, and everyday routines suddenly require creativity and patience.
Thankfully, help arrived before she even knew she needed it.
Just days before her injury, Shannon had met Amy Willoughby, St. Dominic Outpatient Rehabilitation supervisor, during a work interaction.
“She handed me her card and said, ‘If you ever need physical or occupational therapy, call us. We have the best team ever,’” Shannon remembers.
A week later, Shannon made that call.
Building Trust One Visit at a Time
Occupational therapist Haley Boteler had recently begun working with hand patients. From the first appointment, Shannon says Haley knew exactly how to ease her anxiety.
“Today we’re just going to see where you are,” Shannon remembers Haley telling her. “We’ll figure out where we need to go from here.”
That simple reassurance made all the difference. “It immediately took the nerves away.”
As therapy progressed, Haley knew when to challenge Shannon and when to encourage her.
Some days include heat therapy to loosen stiff joints before exercises. Other days involve surprisingly difficult tasks like squeezing therapy putty or picking up marbles using only her thumb and pinky finger.
“At first you think, ‘Why am I picking up marbles?’” Shannon says with a laugh. “Then you realize exactly why.”
Every exercise has a purpose. Every small gain matters.
Recovery Doesn’t Happen by Accident
Healing wasn’t linear. There were setbacks. Pain. Tightness. Frustration.
Shannon says she almost always answered Haley’s routine check-in the same way: “I’m good.”
Haley knew better. “She’d say, ‘I know that hand isn’t good.’”
Instead of accepting the automatic response, Haley asked different questions. Is it tight? Does it itch? Does the knuckle hurt?
Those answers helped Haley adjust treatment and even create custom splints and stretching devices to improve motion in Shannon’s finger.
Recently, Haley earned her certified hand therapist credential, a specialty certification that recognizes advanced knowledge and expertise in treating conditions affecting the hand and upper extremity.
For Shannon, that expertise was obvious long before the certification became official.
“She always had another idea to try,” Shannon says. “If something wasn’t working, she’d find another solution.”
Small Victories Became Big Milestones
Week after week, progress came in tiny increments. Then one day, Shannon realized she could almost make a full fist. Later, she picked up a pen.
Eventually, she found herself doing something she hadn’t been able to do in months: push-ups.
“I did five,” she says with a laugh. “I actually sent Haley a video because I was so excited.”
The victory isn’t about fitness. It’s proof that everything she’s worked toward is paying off.
“I can do just about everything normally now,” she says. “My hand gets tired sometimes, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
A Graduation Worth Celebrating
After 12 weeks of therapy, Shannon reached her final appointment. Haley had been joking for weeks about “graduation day.”
Shannon decided to lean into it. Her son recently graduated from high school, so she arrived wearing his cap and gown.
When Haley saw Shannon, she couldn’t stop smiling. The entire rehab team joined the celebration. They played “Pomp and Circumstance.” They cheered. They took pictures.
And Shannon officially moved her tassel from one side to the other.
“It was super cute,” she says. Graduation lasted only a few minutes, but to Shannon it represents something much bigger.
“That team is so cohesive,” she says. “Everyone helps each other. They’re constantly checking on patients and stepping in wherever they’re needed. You can tell they genuinely care.”
The Most Important Part of Recovery
Looking back, Shannon says surgery repaired her hand. But recovery required something more.
“It takes both people,” she says. “Your therapist gives you the tools, but you have to do the work.”
Her advice for anyone facing rehabilitation is simple.
“Don’t skip therapy. Do what they tell you to do. Put in the time and the effort because you’re the most important part of your recovery.”
She’s grateful for the care she received, but she’s equally proud of what that care helps her accomplish. Today, she can teach classes, type, write, exercise and enjoy the activities she loves, including fishing.
Perhaps more importantly, she carries with her a reminder that healing isn’t only about restoring movement.
Sometimes it’s about the people who encourage you every step of the way.
