Those little conjoined twins who were recently separated

[CatWoman]

I keep thinking of them.

Before the separation, they shared one pair of legs and a kidney.

The operation took over 20 hours.

I'm wondering is it feasible for them to have a normal life?

Don't they usually sacrifice the weaker Siamese twin for the stronger one?

[napi21]

1. I don't know, but they sure couldn't have had anything close to a normal

life while still joined together.

I think the Drs must have at least some expectation of success or I doubt they would have done any surgury.

[CatWoman]

6. of course, Napi, I didn't even think about that

about not having anything close to normal while still joined together.

[Kajsa]

2. Hopefully, they can both pull through this.

I know one of them will have to be on dialysis for a while
until she's old enough to receive a kidney transplant from her mom.

I'm praying for those little girls. They are so aware of what's
going on with them.

[Fredda Weinberg]

3. Not if non-vital organs are involved

They think they can put one on dialysis until she can get a donor kidney.

[Karenca]

4. And they shared

just one liver. :scared:

[Howardx]

5. i wonder about insurance

who pays for these operations? these days i find it hard to believe an insurance co or hmo would pay for this sort of thing.

[CatWoman]

7. that's a good question

:shrug:

[malaise]

8. I feel for those

two little girls and their family. The worst part is that one will live on dialysis until she's well enough to get a kidney from her mum. Given the frailty of her little body, I only hope she survives that wait.

[Karenca]

10. Their liver and large intestine were also shared. eom

[Go Eagles]

9. Not normal but still a better quality

One of them won’t have a normal life being on dialysis and eventually a lifetime of immunosuppressant (has many long term complications) to prevent transplant rejection. Agree that it's still a better quality then if they had remained conjoined.

[Suich]

11. Here's an ongoing site about the Herrin twins:

http://www.herrintwins.com/

[tnlefty]

12. My head almost exploded this morning when I heard one of the news

readers going on about the "plastic surgeons" in the context of it seeming as though to minimize scarring or something. Another physician smacked her down by explaining that the girls were each having their pelvis' reconstructed. TOO many AIRHEADS on my tv.

I hope that they will do well, but that's a lot of extensive surgery for them.

[Beausoir]

13. I keep thinking about them, too. One of the twins will be on dialysis

until she grows strong enough to withstand a kidney transplant.

My prayers are with those girls and their parents. What an incredibly frightening time for them.

I have 4 year old twins and I couldn't imagine the grief they each would feel if something were to happen to the other. They live for each other.

[zbdent]

14. It can be as normal as the parents and the girls would make it

I saw a documentary about one specific (pair?) of conjoined twins ... essentially it looks like a two-headed person, but it's really more like someone was looking over the shoulder and share much of the internal organs.

Both were female, could not be seperated without killing one.

Their classmates have accepted them, they play baseball (one bats left, the other bats righ) and even have individual stats.

One even has a boyfriend (at the time of the show) ...

Of course, when one falls asleep, the other pretty much has to keep quiet.

When one wakes up earlier than the other, she has to wait patiently for the other to get up.

They're as independent as they can get, considering the circumstances.

[PA Democrat]

15. I think it was 20/20 that did a documentary on a set of conjoined twins

from Ireland. The family's name was Holton, I believe. the twins were separated, but one died several days after the operation. It was a heartbreaking story.