8 Limbed "Spider Child" to Have Surgery to Give Her a Normal Life

[es-jay]

Eight-limbed girl goes into surgery

Surgeons have begun a potentially life-changing operation to give a normal body to a two-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in India.

Lakshmi Tatma, named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, went under general anaesthetic at 7am at the Narayana Health City on the outskirts of Bangalore in south India after more than two months of preparation. The operation is expected to last around 40 hours.

Lakshmi with her mother Poonam and father Shambu

Early reports from the operating theatre said that Lakshmi was "very stable" and tolerating the procedure well, but that surgeons had found "a few surprises" after making the first incisions.

However Dr Sharan Patil, the consultant orthopaedic surgeon who is leading six teams of variously skilled surgeons who will complete different aspects of the operation, said she still expected the surgery to be completed on time.

"Lakshmi's structure inside and her anatomy was quite different from what the CT scans had shown us, but this is to be expected," she said.

"We did have a few surprises in terms of the route her blood vessels take around her body, but nothing untoward."
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Lakshmi was born with a "parasitic", headless twin - a condition referred to technically as isciopagus - and shares some vital organs with the twin which is fused to her at the pelvis in a mirror image of her own body. She cannot walk or stand up.

Villagers in the impoverished rural state of Bihar, eastern India, where she was born feted Lakshmi as a "miracle child" and a "gift from God", but her parents decided to accept the offer of medical intervention.

Not everyone agreed with their decision, according to her father Shambhu, who said they couple had at one point been forced into hiding after a circus owner tried to buy Lakshmi for a freak-show.

"Everybody considers her a goddess at our village," added her father, who is in his 20s. "All this expenditure has happened to make her normal. So far, everything is fine."

Earlier Shambhu recalled how his wife Poonam had collapsed as their daughter was wheeled off into theatre.

"Even though we knew what was going to happen and have wanted an operation for Lakshmi for two years, the moment it finally happened was terrible," he said. "Neither of us slept at all last night, our minds were swimming. We talked about Laskhmi all night, until this morning when the nurses came in.

"The real turning point came when they put a tube into her nose and started to wash her mouth out. Lakshmi started screaming and wouldn't stop. That was the first time I cried.

"The nurses sedated her and everything was fine until 10.30pm last night, when the drugs wore off. Her bowels had been flushed out and she got cramps. She cried non-stop for 90 minutes and we started panicking. None of us slept at all.

"Lakshmi was so hungry because there was no food inside. She kept looking to be breast-fed but she wasn't allowed any food.


An X-ray picture shows how the two bodies are joined at the pelvis

"Poonam fainted as they took Lakshmi out of the room and had to be helped to her bed. She could not stop crying from fear. She is sleeping now for the first time in days after being sedated.

"At the moment I feel a relief because the operation is out of my hands - there's nothing I can do anymore except wait. It is down to the doctors now."

Lakshmi is estimated to have a "75-80 per cent" chance of coming through the initial operation, but doctors added the more immediate danger was damaging her nervous system, which is described as "jumbled up".

A single mistake could leave her paralysed, they added, as the team must cut some of the tissue surrounding her spinal cord in order to successfully separate the parasitic twin.

During the operation the doctors will attempt to transplant a healthy kidney from the parasitic twin back to Lakshmi. The girl also has two chests and stomach cavities, which will require separation.

The final stage of the operation, before plastic surgeons move in to cover her wounds, will be to attach an "external fixator" to gradually apply pressure to her pelvic girdle which is currently splayed open at 90 degrees.

The entire procedure - likened to "closing an open book" - will take three weeks, but it will be some months before the ultimate effectiveness of the surgery can be judged.


SOURCE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/06/wlimbs206.xml



saw it in the paper last night, had to post it. its freaky, but at the same time i find it kind of amazing. i hope the little girl gets through the surgery

[swangin and bangin]

wow
inbred?

[JMan]

that is one of the most fucked up things i have ever seen..

[Mackin]

that is one of the most messed up things i have ever seen..

[Twentytwofifty]

Surgery?  she should keep it like that, her parents are nuts

[es-jay]

pretty much all it is is she has a conjoined twin which is undeveloped..

more pics:

[NotoriousTDA]

if i was the father id be pissed!!!!! Fucking bitch cheated on him with docter octopus

[K.Dub]

Was just about to post this.

Shit's crazy

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

that is one of the most messed up things i have ever seen..

LOL. Why the change in quote?



That little girl looks insane...it could be seen as an advantage, though, if utilized correctly.

[Mackin]

that is one of the most messed up things i have ever seen..

LOL. Why the change in quote?

..Lol..i figured nobody would notice it-I don't use bad words,so that's the reason why i changed d word

That little girl looks insane...it could be seen as an advantage, though, if utilized correctly

.

How???..still can't imagine..

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

You don't use "bad words" and you're not into girls who are into girls...Hmmmmm?

[Mackin]

You don't use "bad words" and you're not into girls who are into girls...Hmmmmm?

Yup!!
it's not strange..Im one of those Guys!!

As for the Girl-on-Girl..it's not my thing
I'm a one Girl Dude

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

You don't use "bad words" and you're not into girls who are into girls...Hmmmmm?

Yup!!
it's not strange..Im one of those Guys!!

As for the Girl-on-Girl..it's not my thing
I'm a one Girl Dude

I feel you...I'm not against straight-edge dudes...It's just quite funny, considering your name is "Mackin4Life".

[Mackin]

You don't use "bad words" and you're not into girls who are into girls...Hmmmmm?

Yup!!
it's not strange..Im one of those Guys!!

As for the Girl-on-Girl..it's not my thing
I'm a one Girl Dude

I feel you...I'm not against straight-edge dudes...It's just quite funny, considering your name is "Mackin4Life".

..lol!!
Well I do say true to my name..but even then it's strictly one girl at a time..
I don't need to be greedy..besides, One Girl is enough stress for me to handle..you Know!!

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

I dunno...I don't see girls as stress, so I can't feel you on that. You can let them be stressful, but it's all up to you.