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CNN Live Today

Doctors Hoping Twins Will be Interacting by Tomorrow

Aired August 07, 2002 - 11:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: But up first this hour on CNN, those Guatemalan twins. The girls aren't out of danger by any stretch just yet, but doctors today are very, very upbeat that the babies are on the road to recovery and a normal life, although it may be days or may be even weeks before they know that for sure.
Our national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, is standing by. He is at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles this morning -- hello, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Leon, hello to you. And inside this hospital right now are two very grateful parents from Guatemala who are seeing their twin girls for the first time separated from each other. Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus are in intensive care, lying side by side, and they are in critical but stable condition. That's the important word, their condition is stable. Twenty-two hours of surgery, more than 50 doctors and nurses participating in this historic surgery to take these conjoined twins, joined at the head, and separate them, and they succeeded during the very long operation.

There was another operation a few hours later for Maria Theresa, a complication. She had a subdural hematoma, blood on the surface of the brain. Five more hours of surgery. But she is doing OK, and her prognosis is the same as her sister. Doctors say they are cautiously optimistic, and say they could possibly live normal lives down the road, which is pretty amazing, considering what they have gone through.

Leticia and Wenceslao Quiej Alvarez are the parents. She is 22 years old. He is 20. He is a farmer, she is a homemaker. They live in a rural southern portion of Guatemala in a town called Belen, very poor. They have been here for more than two months with their daughters, preparing for the surgery.

Earlier today, we talked to the chief plastic surgeon and the neurosurgeon about their outlooks.

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DR. HENRY KAWAMOTO, UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: When they left the operating room, we felt pretty good about what went on. I think if all goes to plan, they will heal everything well, at least that's what we are hoping for. And we will probably know quite a bit about that phase when we change the dressing, which will be probably tomorrow, or today we will be changing the dressings to see how things are going. But we're, as always said, cautiously optimistic. I am a little bit more pessimistic, or cautious than Jorge, but it is a little bit of ying-yang. We balance each other out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: These guys have amazing senses of humor considering they've gotten almost no sleep over the past two and a half days. We did that interview at 4:30 this morning, local time. They're going to get some sleep today, they hope. We hope later to see the parents. We are told that inside the hospital there are lots of smiles as they wait to see the smiles of their children, which could come as early as tomorrow. Right now, they are still groggy from the anesthesia, but doctors are hoping by tomorrow or Friday, there is some interaction between these grateful parents and their two little children -- Leon.

HARRIS: That will be great to see, too, Gary. That will great to see. All right. Thanks, Gary. We will get back to you in just a bit.

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