April 2004
August 2004
September 26, 2005
Posted on 09/27/2005 5:59:56 AM PDT by Calpernia
Arlene Aguirre, who brought her conjoined sons to America in hopes of giving them a normal life, said Monday she could barely believe it when one of the twins took his first steps into her arms.
``The first time I saw him walking, I just started crying,'' she said. ``I just pinched myself. It's just like I was dreaming. ... I said, `Clarence, is that really you?'''
Clarence Aguirre was 3 years old, much older than most kids, when he started walking in late August. But the milestone came barely a year after he and his brother Carl, who were joined at the top of their heads when they were born in the Philippines, were separated by surgeons at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
Carl is expected to be walking within a couple of months, said Mara Abrams, a physical therapist at Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla, where the boys have been getting care since they came to New York in 2003.
Dr. Robert Marion, the boys' pediatrician, said Clarence's first steps were significant because they came during a recent ``burst of activity'' that has given doctors more confidence that the twins will eventually catch up to their age group in major skills.
``The last two months have gone a long way toward convincing us that they're going to be normal,'' he said. ``You look into their eyes and you get the sense that things are working right.''
Carl's eyes weren't visible through most of Monday's news conference at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, because he slept while Clarence stood at a table, stacked rings on a stick and played with an Elmo doll.
Carl ``tends to be shyer, a little quieter,'' said Dr. James Goodrich, who led the team that separated the boys on Aug. 4, 2004. But that's not why he's behind Clarence in walking, said Dr. David Staffenberg, the boys' plastic surgeon.
``They've been doing this follow-the-leader kind of thing where Carl seems to be ahead for a while and then Clarence leapfrogs him,'' Staffenberg said. Both boys, he said, are ``doing developmental double-time.''
The doctors and therapists said the twins' speech, which is still limited to a handful of words, is also improving.
``We're pretty sure it'll come along, just like the walking,'' said Marion.
Dr. Joelle Mast, Blythedale's chief medical officer, said the boys are ``beginning to put two words together'' and can point to something, like a book, and name it. Julie Knitter, the director of occupational therapy, said that when they're playing together, the speech features ``a lot of `More!' and a lot of `Mine!'''
Abrams said that soon after Clarence started walking, he started walking one of the therapy dogs that visit the hospital. ``It was a beautiful sight,'' she said.
The twins' walking, talking and other advances have persuaded the surgeons to indefinitely postpone the reconstruction of the brothers' skulls, where much bone was removed during the four surgeries that resulted in their separation.
``It's much better for the boys to be getting this care, to be learning and catching up, then to interrupt all this for a hospitalization,'' Staffenberg said. ``Too much good stuff is happening.''
Meanwhile, the boys' heads are protected by blue helmets.
August 2004
September 26, 2005
great news, modern medicine in most cases is wonderful.
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