At this follow-up visit, the mother clearly and accurately recalled every detail of her child's surgery.
I immediately gave her a thumbs-up - parents who can remember surgical details so precisely, down to the exact day, are truly rare.
This child has Poland syndrome. On the right hand, all fingers except the thumb were fused together.
Given the multiple webbed fingers, when the child was 7 months old, we used an artificial dermis–induced, skin-graft-free technique to separate all the fused fingers in a single procedure.
Now, 152 days after surgery, the scars on the fingers are relatively mild, and the fingers continue to grow gradually. The child can now grasp toys with both hands and hold biscuits to eat independently.
When we showed the mother photos taken before surgery, she was a little incredulous:"Is this really his hand? Was this really how it used to look?"
Not remembering is a good thing. As the child continues to play more and use the hand more, the small hand will keep improving, and the difference between the two hands will gradually become smaller.