All the world looks at the new Lakshmi

Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 17:17

Bangalore: Lakshmi, the two-year-old girl who had eight limbs, was on Tuesday shown to the world a week after surgeons removed the parasitic twin attached to her body.
The child appeared on television with her parents looking lively, despite being in a cast from her waist down. Doctors had taken her off life support systems on Monday, after she showed a remarkable reccovery in the past 48 hours. Doctors say Lakshmi is now eating semi-solid food.
Lakshmi underwent a 27-hour long surgery last Wednesday to remove the extraneous limbs and reconstruct some of her body parts. Her parents, who hail from Bihar, had brought her to Bangalore after a New Delhi hospital refused to perform the operation.
Lakshmi, who was revered by people in her village in Bihar as a goddess, was born joined at the pelvis to a ''parasitic twin'' that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped twin.
A team of more than 30 surgeons finished a 27-hour operation last Wednesday, removing the extra limbs, transplanting a kidney from the twin and reconstructing Lakshmi's pelvic area.
Lakshmi has made steady progress, said Dr Mamatha Patil, a spokeswoman for the Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore. She was taken off a respirator on Friday afternoon and her parents were allowed to visit. On Saturday, she was fed milk and water, Patil said, and her mother spent two hours with her.
''Her mother was very happy and Lakshmi was also happy to be with her,'' Patil added. ''She is certainly doing well.''
The doctors who performed the complicated surgery have said it was very successful, meaning she would not need further major reconstructive surgery. However, Lakshmi will need further treatment and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she will be able to walk.

Lakshmi eats for first time after surgery

Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 11:00

New Delhi: Seven days after she underwent a rare and a risky surgery, two-year-old Lakshmi is recovering fast.
The girl – who was operated upon for 27 hours in Bangalore to separate her from her parasitic twin – ate solid food for the first time on Monday after regaining consciousness.
She is now off the ventilator support and doctors say her vital organs are functioning normally.
However, doctors say complete rehabilitation process will take some more time.
Lakshmi was operated upon by a team of 36 doctors who successfully removed her from her parasitic conjoined twin last week.
She was on a ventilator under observation for 72 hours before she regained consciousness.
Late on Monday night, a medical bulletin released by the hospital said Lakshmi “is now able to tolerate oral semi-solid feeds. Her clinical and biochemical parameters continue to be within normal limits.”
The entire family including parents Poonam and Shambu and brother Mithilesh had been spending a lot of time with her over the last couple of days and the child was responding well to this interaction.
"Lakshmi is now able to tolerate oral semi-solid feeds. Her clinical and biochemical parameters continue to be within normal limits. Her invasive monitoring has been removed," it said.
Lakshmi had two pairs of legs and arms formed at either end of the two adjoining torsos, thus appearing as a child with eight limbs.