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
Amen to that.
~Prayers~
Save Octavia!
ping
Poor little thing. May God (the real One) bless her, her doctors and caregivers, and her family.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Spines_of_2-yr-old_Lakshmi_separated_Docs/articleshow/2522918.cms
6 Nov 2007, 1918 hrs IST,PTI
BANGALORE: Doctors at a superspeciality hospital here, who have commenced a complicated surgery on two year-old Lakshmi, a conjoined twin, on Tuesday successfully separated the spines.
“The condition of the child is stable,” doctors said.
A team of neurosurgeons have completed their part of the surgery, separated the spines, which the doctors described as “most critical” part of the 40-hour operation that began at 7 am (IST) on Tuesday.
Dr Sharan Patil, the orthopaedic surgeon who heads the five-member core team performing the operation at Sparsh Hospital, said the separation of spines has been smooth without any complications.
“Paediatric surgeons are now operating and trying to separate the organs and then orthopaedic surgeons will try to reconstruct the pelvic ring,” he said.
“With the reconstruction of the pelvic ring, the first stage of the surgery will be completed,” Patil said.
He expressed hope that the team will be able to complete the first stage of the operation on Tuesday night.
Lakshmi arrived at Sparsh Hospital, a part of Narayana Health city on October 3 from a village in Araria district in Bihar and underwent a series of medical tests.
Parents of Lakshmi, Shambhu, a daily wage labourer and Poonam have come with great hopes to the hospital and have reposed complete faith in the team, Patil said.
Thanks for the update, it’s heartening to hear that all has gone well so far. What a beautiful little girl and what love her parents have for her, as they should, such a touching story. Especially in this day when children with far less daunting conditions are being aborted or abandoned.
The imagine is surreal to me...the only thing words I can describe it beautiful strangess. Prayers for the girl :)
ping
I’m praying for this lovely wee girl...
That she come through the operation whole in Jesus’ lovely Name
The latest news about an hour ago...from The Guardian Unlimited
Successful Surgery for 8-Limbed Girl
Wednesday November 7, 2007 6:46 AM
By GAVIN RABINOWITZ
Associated Press Writer
BANGALORE, India (AP) - An extensive operation on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs went ``wonderfully well’’ doctors said Wednesday as they announced that she was safe and stable after more than 24 hours of surgery.
A team of 30 doctors successfully removed the child’s extra limbs, salvaged her organs, and rebuilt her pelvis area, Dr. Sharan Patil said Wednesday from a Bangalore hospital.
``Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well,’’ Patil said.
The girl, named Lakshmi, had been revered by some in her village as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess.
Lakshmi was born joined to a ``parasitic twin’’ that stopped developing in the mother’s womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.
The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs, surgery that doctors say will give her a good chance to live past adolescence. The procedure included separating the fused spines along with removing the extra limbs and the rest of the ``parasite,’’ said Patil, the orthopedic surgeon leading the operation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7056597,00.html
The BBC News....Wednesday, 7 November 2007, 06:04 GMT
Indian girl separated from twin
Lakshmi with her mother before the operation
Doctors in India, who operated on a two-year-old child who was born with four arms and four legs, say the surgery has been successful.
Lakshmi Tatma was joined at the pelvis to what was, in effect, a headless, undeveloped twin.
A team of surgeons in the southern city of Bangalore operated on Lakshmi for 27 hours to separate her spinal column and kidney from that of her twin.
It is hoped the procedure will allow her to survive beyond adolescence.
“Lakshmi is stable and sound,” the doctor leading the operation, Sharan Patil, told a press conference which was shown live on television channels across India.
‘Optimistic’
Dr Patil said Lakshmi was still on ventilation and would be closely monitored for two to three days.
Dr Sharan said he was “optimistic about the child’s survival”.
The surgery began at 0700 local time (0130 GMT) on Tuesday and ended at 1000 local time (0430 GMT) on Wednesday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7082305.stm
Thank you Jesus for guiding the surgeons’ hands for this sweet little girl...
Yes. What a miracle. Thank you Lord of all.
Ping!
Risky? Definitely. The question is one of risk/reward ratio. With the surgery, she might live normally, be able to walk and work and marry and have a life.
If a child were born with eight functional, usable limbs, that would be an interesting question. Could the human brain manage those? But in the case in point, the little girl has non-functioning limbs. They just flop around, and if not removed, they'll be a life-long threat of injuries that could cause clots, hemorrhaging or even gangrene.
You don’t have to be a Villager to realize that Lakshmi IS the reincarnation of the Hindu Goddess. She even looks like her. We all get reincarnated, why can’t she be her? I believe that she is. Why does having a scientific explanation for something have to take away from the spirituality of something? Just because something is scientifically explained does not make it less then a miracle. That child is blessed by God and we shall all be witnesses to her life in this life. A modern day Goddess reincarnated before our very own eyes. Appreciate the blessings of living to see this miracle taking place! And God be with us all!
Go be a troll somewhere else...
There is a God...
There are no godesses..
There is no such thing as reincarnation..
The little girl has her OWN life, not someone else’s..
She is not a reincarnation of anyone else..
Nobody ever comes back again as another person..
You only live and die one time......
It was God who said, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement” Hebrews 9:27
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