Posted on 11/06/2007 4:09:11 AM PST by Renfield
A toddler born with eight limbs and believed by some to be the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess Vishnu, is set to undergo a 40-hour operation to remove half of her limbs.
Lakshmi Tatma was born joined to a 'parasitic twin' and will go under the knife at the hands of 30 surgeons to remove two of her useless arms and legs.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Fused: Lakshmi's body is joined with the parasitical twin which is attached to her body at her pelvis
Hope: Lakshmi and mother Poonam prepare for the op which could save the toddler's life
You must come see this.
Poor precious baby. Those eyes! How can anyone explain to her or comfort her for the inevitable pain she will experience? She is as lovely as her mother and I hope she has a successful life after this.
She is a very cute little girl.
I hope that the operation can be as successful as possible.
Indeed, she is gorgeous. Payers for a successful operation for a happier life.
India News
40-hour surgery begins in India to remove parasitic twin
Nov 6, 2007, 10:18 GMT
New Delhi - Surgeons in the southern Indian city of Bangalore began a 40-hour surgery Tuesday, hoping to give a 2-year-old girl born with eight limbs a new lease on life.
Lakshmi Tatma has a rare parasitic twin. She has one head but two pairs of arms and legs that make it impossible for her to stand or walk, said Mamatha Patil, coordinator of the Sparsh Foundation, a charity connected to Bangalore’s Sparsh Hospital that is funding the surgery.
The child was named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth by her poor parents, Shambhu and Poonam, who both go by one name and come from the northern state of Bihar bordering Nepal.
They had initially taken their daughter to a hospital in New Delhi, but when they were approached by circus owners who wanted to buy Lakshmi, they returned to their village.
‘The parents said they loved their daughter and did not want her turned into a freak show and brought her back to the village where they tried to keep her away from prying eyes,’ Patil said.
‘Laksmi has a very rare condition called ischiopagus, which occurs in less than 2 per cent of conjoined twins,’ said Patil, who is a also a surgeon. ‘The twin embryo stops developing in the mother’s womb, and one foetus develops at the expense of the other.’
Lakshmi’s twin is headless and joined to her at the girl’s pelvis
Sharan Patil, a paediatric surgeon at Sparsh Hospital, is leading a team of 30 doctors in a complex surgery to separate Lakshmi’s limbs, which they estimate would take 40 hours.
Seven hours into the surgery, Lakshmi was doing well.
‘Everything is fine,’ Mamatha Patil said. ‘The child is stable.’
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
I'm no doctor either (not by a long shot!), and while the surgery is no doubt very risky, I would have to guess that the parasitic twin had a spinal cord of its own which would need to be cut if not entirely removed.
sw
The smile on that child’s face should make just about every other person on earth feel pretty d@mn guilty about bitching and whining about the difficulties in their lives.
Amen.
A precious prayer, friend.
Amen.
Nope. Not Insect Girl - just another case of bad grammar in media, which is becoming more prevalent all the time. Removing two useless arms and two useless legs, poor baby.
That will be a tremendous shock to the system. I hope she survives it.
That was a poignant gesture!
I too hope everything turns out well for this child.
AMEN
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