Carter and Conner are two former conjoined twins who used to share a liver and a small intestine. Now they can live and discover their lives separately, after a successful 12-hour operation.
Three surgeons, five anesthesiologists and 12 other staffers gathered together to improve the lives of the two brothers. Five month old twins can now move freely, take advantage of their motory independence and develop like normal babies.
Once they found out their babies would have a good chance of surviving separation surgery, the parents went through with the entire set of procedures and preparation for the event. They held their breaths until the final moment when doctors confirmed the success.
Fortunately, the babies only shared small parts of tissue, which allowed intervention. If there was involved a shared hart or parts of the brain, the options would have been much more limited.
Dr Daniel Robie, chief of pediatric general surgery for Nemours Children’s Specialty Care in Jacksonville commented with a very optimistic tone : “ We separate them and then reconstruct them so that they each have organs that are going to function normally”. So it happened, results have shown.
The road to independence was bumpy, as doctors were very much worried about extreme blood loss while separating the liver. Rising above fear may pave the way to success sometimes, with a long but successful surgery.
The world of today allows for very delicate interventions in patients with sophisticated problems. Medical science has evolved to the point of making the impossible happen, bringing hope and smiles on people’s faces.
The conjoined twins of today can become the independent individuals of tomorrow, with the help of human expertise and technological advances.
Doctors have been going through rough months of preparation for the surgery, mapping the areas for separation and analyzing potential effects. On the other hand, the parents have been doing their job in holding their fingers crossed for a happy ending.
A family is reunited at last, with parents declaring they cannot wait to arrange separate rooms for the babies. Now an entire set of lives can go back to normal thanks to the helping hands of talented surgeons.
Image Source: dailymail.co.uk
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