Lauren had hand surgery on October 3, 1997. Dr. Caroline Chester, at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC, performed the surgery. The surgery lasted almost 3 hours and was very successful! Dr. Chester released some webbing that Lauren had on her L hand, between her index finger and between her thumb. She also took off a little nail nubbin that was unstable on her R (triangle-shaped) thumb. She had to wear a cast, but only for one week Then, we had to keep in bandaged for another two weeks. It's looking quite beautiful now and we are all very pleased witht the outcome.  Lauren is going to have much more movement with her L hand now!