Nubbins

In addition to having Israel's tongue surgery we had something else done as well, very last minute. On the end of each limb he has what we refer to as "nubbins". Basically they would have eventually turned into fingers and toes, had he developed properly in the womb. However because something stopped his growth they stopped too. They are pointless and useless. They have no bones in them and serve no purpose or function.

(Here is an example of his left arm)

I have always worried about them getting caught on something and ripping. I have also worried that they would eventually get in his way and could possibly cause pain with his prosthesis. So, we asked our plastic surgeon if she would mind just removing all of them while she was at it and he was under aways. She was wonderful and agreed. We had them removed off of all four limbs. His right side ones were smaller and the left side ones were quite a bit bigger. He had to get stitches in them, and even a soft cast on his right arm, because he sucks on it and the stitches would have dissolved to quickly. Israel is recovering well from them and doesn't seem to mind the change. He is using his arms and legs just the same. I am so glad we decided to get this done...just one less thing to think about along this journey :-)