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Recovery to Reach Her Goals: Lily’s Success Story

March 23, 2026 | Patient Success Stories
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By, Allison R. Weder

Lily Flynn has her sights set on playing sports in college. So, when the now 17-year-old began experiencing shoulder pain, she knew she needed help. “I’ve been playing volleyball since my freshman year. I play softball too. I started experiencing pain at the end of my freshman year and as I would use my shoulder more, it would get worse.” The pain became so intense, Lily could not play the sports she loved. She visited her doctor who believed her pain was from an overuse injury. Overuse injuries are damage to bones, muscles, ligaments, or tendons caused by repetitive stress and not enough time for recovery, rather than a single acute event. Her doctor recommended physical therapy.

Lily and her parents knew right where to go for PT: Phoenix Physical Therapy in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. “I have a lot of experiences with Mandy and Kenny. I’ve been in for a few injuries and I know that every single time I go there, I come out ten times better and I’m usually able to go right back into my season.” Clinic Director, Mandy Bixler, PT, DPT, and Kenny Ross, PT, DPT, helped guide Lily through her recovery. “My main goal wasn’t to completely heal my shoulder. It was just to play in the very important tournaments I needed to. It’s a big deal to play your junior season of travel ball because that’s like the most important time to get recruited. It was really important to me to play my junior season.”

Lily’s first visit with Mandy started with an evaluation. “It was a lot of getting a benchmark of where I was. And it was a lot of seeing what movements I have that cause pain and what movements I have that I can do a little bit more of. She was finding the muscles and the places we need to target to get stronger.” With her goals in mind, Mandy created a unique recovery plan just for Lily. Mandy also made it clear to Lily that she may need to pause her sports training. “She explained to me that we might need to take a step back before we take a step forward. That meant not doing my normal gym work every single day, not lifting every single day, and just going back and doing the simple things and simple stretches and being consistent with them before I jump right back into the gym.”

The simple stretches began right away. Lily remembers her routine. “I did the basic stretch of pulling your arm across your chest and I would hold that for two minutes. Then my favorite stretch was done while sitting in a chair. You would hold the underside of the chair and lean to the opposite side. It’s such a good stretch to the point where I would do it at my tournaments before every single set. It targeted the pain I was feeling so well.” Lily completed exercises without weights early on in her therapy, then as she became stronger, Mandy would add in weights. They also used a trampoline. “I would throw a weighted ball at the trampoline and then catch it. I did some (exercises) where I had a ball and I would roll it clockwise and then counterclockwise on the wall. That was a really good one too. I would focus on my posture and pinching my shoulder blades together. Then towards the end of my physical therapy, we did planks on a half exercise ball.”

Lily enjoyed PT, gaining confidence after each visit that she would be able to reach her goals. “I would go to physical therapy, and I would feel really good about myself, like making progress and doing things that I would do normally at my gym for training for volleyball. Coming in, I wasn’t really going to the gym at all because it hurt so badly.” Her hard work meant progress. “I can say that it was a lot quicker than I thought it would be. I mean, at the end of my volleyball season, I just thought I’m going to have to be dealing with this pain for a long time because there’s no other fix to this rather than surgery. But then, I was playing in my volleyball tournaments and there were two out of four tournaments where I didn’t have pain at all. And that was kind of a big step forward for me because my entire high school volleyball season, I was having pain. I’d say it took only about four weeks (of therapy) to have no pain at all.”

Each time Lily attended therapy with the Pine Grove team, her pain faded and it was clear they had her best interests in mind, even becoming like family. “That’s one thing I love about Phoenix in Pine Grove, I feel like I can go there and have conversations with everybody. Kenny knows stuff about my personal life, and Mandy knows stuff about my personal life. It’s very comforting. Dealing with an injury is hard, and you can tell that they’re not doing it because it’s just their job and they’re getting paid. You can tell they genuinely care about you, and they go above and beyond for you. It’s a very good environment to go to for physical therapy.” Mandy never doubted Lily would achieve her goals. “Lily is a motivated, driven young lady who commits to excel in all challenges in life. She is sweet, funny, and a joy to know.”

Lily has some advice for those who think physical therapy may not be for them. “There is nothing bad that can come out of physical therapy. If you’re honest with your therapist, they’re going to help you as much as they can. They are so good with knowing your limits and knowing if you’re in pain, and they really do care about you. I know that every single time I’ve done physical therapy, I’ve progressed and I’ve gotten better. I’ve never went into Phoenix and came out regretting it.”

The entire Phoenix Physical Therapy Team is committed to providing our patients with quality physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy in a safe and healthy clinic environment. We continue to follow the guidance provided by the CDC, WHO and public health officials to update you as new information becomes available. Let’s work together to keep each other safe and healthy.

The safety of our patients, communities and team members remains our top priority. We know you have a choice in your care providers and appreciate your commitment to Phoenix and our qualified clinicians.

Here are the actions we have taken to keep our patients, communities and team healthy & safe:

  • Flexible scheduling allows for social distancing
  • Regular cleaning and sanitation of all clinic surfaces
  • Facemasks must be worn by all Phoenix staff and are recommended for all patients
  • Screening questionnaire and temperature checks prior to entering clinics
  • 6 feet of social distancing throughout the clinics

Keeping Our Clinics Safe

Here are some tips on how we can keep each other safe:

  • Handwashing is your best self-defense against the spread of germs. When soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly dirty, use at least a 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
  • Please stay home if you are not feeling well, especially if you have a fever, are coughing or sneezing, or are experiencing shortness of breath. If a patient shows up with symptoms, the clinic team will work with them to reschedule.
  • Be vigilant. If you have traveled to any of the countries where there are outbreaks of the virus, please follow guidance from the CDC website and our Travel Guidelines.

Here are actions we are taking to keep our clinics clean and safe:

  • Equipment will be wiped down after EVERY use with antibacterial wipes/sprays
  • All surfaces that patients or staff may touch including door handles, countertops, seating, pens at sign-in, bathroom and all other common areas will be disinfected regularly
  • Treatment tables will be 6 feet apart
  • Team members will wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, particularly after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing their nose, coughing or sneezin
  • Clinics will have hand sanitizer available at the front desk and in the treatment areas
  • Any Phoenix team members who are ill will be asked to stay home
  • We will maintain social distancing between patients in the clinic
  • Caregivers that are bringing a patient to the clinic should wait in their car or come back when the appointment has ended unless necessary (i.e. minor requiring a guardian or for assistance needs)
  • When possible, we will treat patients in private rooms to increase social distancing
  • Any patients that have underlying health issues (i.e. diabetes, respiratory problems, etc.) will be given the option to be seen during special clinic hours or can opt to be treated in a private room away from other clinicians and patients
  • All patients should be self-screening before entering the clinic. Our PCCs will perform a secondary screening during the check-in process and before patients enter the clinic including a screening questionnaire and temperature check.
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