Posted on 06/15/2006 4:25:43 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
A medical team worked through the night to rebuild the bodies of two conjoined twins who were successfully separated after a daylong operation, a hospital spokesman said.
A calm feeling filled the operating room at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles after surgeons gently cut the last pelvic bone connecting the sisters and moved on to the reconstruction phase of the marathon operation, said hospital spokesman Steve Rutledge.
"They seem to be doing fine," Rutledge said.
Ten-month-old Regina and Renata Salinas Fierros spent their first moments apart when one of them was wheeled to another room late Wednesday so plastic surgeons could begin the reconstruction work.
The Salinas Fierros sisters were born facing each other, joined from the lower chest to the pelvis. They were fused in several places including the liver and genitals and shared a large intestine. Regina was born with one kidney.
During the operation, doctors made an incision at the breastbone and then divided the internal organs.
Several doctors on the 80-person medical team also took part in the 2003 separation of conjoined twins from a set of triplets at the hospital. Wednesday's surgery was considered more complex because it involved more organs.
Despite the risks, doctors said they expected a successful operation.
"Everything has been going impeccably, as one could possibly imagine," surgical director Dr. Henri Ford said several hours into the surgery.
Conjoined twins occur when a single fertilized egg fails to divide completely. It's estimated that a few hundred pairs of conjoined twins are born globally each year. In the U.S., they occur 1 in every 200,000 live births.
The way that Regina and Renata were fused makes them a rare type of conjoined twins, occurring in about 10 percent of cases.
The twins were born in Los Angeles on Aug. 2, 2005, to Mexican parents who were visiting relatives in the United States. The girls' mother, 23-year-old Sonia, said she didn't realize she was carrying conjoined twins until she was hospitalized with an infection.
The couple extended their tourist visa so that the twins could receive medical care.
The girls were transferred to Childrens Hospital a day after their birth where they underwent tests in preparation for the separation surgery. Doctors implanted inflatable balloons under their skin so that it could expand to cover the surgical wounds after the operation.
Childrens Hospital declined to reveal the operation's cost, which will be covered by a state health program. The hospital previously performed five conjoined twin operations since 1966 including three cases in which both twins survived.
Now, with all these illegals stealing at our expense (medical care, welfare, social security), I think our compassion has run out.
I know mine has. I feel for these babies, Jose and Maria need to be footing the bill for this.
In all fairness, the parents were here on a tourist visa and they extended it legally, so I don't have a problem with them following the law in that regard. I DO have a problem with California footing the bill. They seem to have extended their stay for the sole purpose of bilking the taxpayers for the medical care. That, to me, would seem to be fraud.
There are some things we have to accept.
We may wonder why they just happened to be in America on a tourist Visa when this discovery was made, but to say the operation shouldnt have been done unless they could pay for it is kind of cold.
My compassion is just about all worn out.
How convenient.
Something stinks here. Bill the mexican govt. for the tab. They have national health care. Let their govt. foot the bill.
This type of operation may well benefit future babies born with this condition.
Evidently compassion extends to horses before babies to some folks.
Usually these articles go something like, the US brings the child here and the hospital and different organizations cover the cost. They show us doing what we do best. Helping others. I don't blame the mother for trying to get help for her babies and pray they recover. I'm all for helping these babies but what I think stinks here is that IMO a normally up lifting story may be being used to get those with concerns to look uncaring and cold.
The vacation visa was overdue..they were illegals...of course.....probably cost $500,000
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.