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CNN Live Today
Separated Twins Update: Doctors' Interview
Aired October 29, 2002 - 11:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now for an update on the twin girls born joined at the head. You might remember they were separated in a 22-hour surgery in August.
The girls were scheduled to go home to Guatemala today. They are going to have to wait a little bit longer. Doctors concerned about a skin graft on one of the twins' heads.
Dr. Henry Kawamoto and Dr. Jorges Lazaress are part of the girls' medical team, and they join us from Los Angeles with an update on the girls.
Good morning, Doctors -- good to have you with us.
DR. HENRY KAWAMOTO, PLASTIC SURGEON, UCLA'S MATTEL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Good morning.
DR. JORGES LAZARESS, NEUROSURGEON, UCLA'S MATTEL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Good morning.
KAGAN: Can you tell us a little bit more about the delay in getting the girls home?
KAWAMOTO: The skin graft actually took that we had given or placed on them earlier, but there was just a little area of separation, about a small sliver, that we felt would -- that it would be best to keep them a little bit longer until everything was healed.
KAGAN: Yes, so how much longer, do you think?
KAWAMOTO: That's a great question, but I really don't know at the present time. I'll probably know better at the end of the week.
KAGAN: OK, well, we'll check back with you then.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lazaress, overall how are the girls doing?
LAZARESS: They are doing extremely well, and they are progressing weekly. And if you had seen them two or three weeks ago, you would not recognize them, shall I say, by the abilities that they have acquired in the last two or three weeks. They're doing extremely well.
Of course, one of them is lagging behind, but still catching up. And I am absolutely hopeful that, as I said many times, when they will be 5 or 6 years old, they will be able to start school with their peers without any difficulty. KAGAN: That is a great wish, indeed. Developmentally, compared to other kids their age, how does each one measure up?
LAZARESS: They were tested last week by the developmental specialist at our hospital, and they assessed that they are basically -- one of them, Maria de Jesus is at 10 months old. She is at 10 months. And Maria Teresa is like an 8-month-old.
KAWAMOTO: You have to understand that they were physically restrained by being...
KAGAN: Right.
KAWAMOTO: ... connected at their heads, so they couldn't develop a lot of physical things.
KAGAN: So, I'm wondering is it because of the position they were in for the first year of their life, or is it because of what happened when you separated them, something that happened to their brains?
LAZARESS: I think first because of them being conjoined for one year, so they did not develop some of the normal activities that other children of their ages have. And certainly, they now are separated and it must have had some impact on their perception of their surroundings, no? They don't have this counterweight that they had in the past, so they have to be accustomed again of how to sit, stand, to control their body movements.
KAGAN: Sure.
LAZARESS: But basically, their brains are on the neurological status fairly normal.
KAGAN: That's excellent news.
Dr. Kawamoto, how do the girls interact to each other?
KAWAMOTO: Well, it's very interesting, when they were first separated, one of the twins, Maria de Jesus, was feeling the top of her head, wondering where is my twin. And actually, they're very lovable and very cute, and there's going to be a lot of broken hearts at UCLA when they go home, believe me.
KAGAN: Yes, so this isn't just a ruse to keep them around a little bit longer, is it, because you guys have fallen in love with these babies?
KAWAMOTO: Oh, well, you got the truth of it now.
KAGAN: I've gotten to the bottom of this. It's those big, brown eyes. You guys have just melted.
I want to ask you, because I know one reason that this has gotten so much attention is because this was such an unusual case. What have you, as doctors, learned in treating these girls that might help other babies in the future? LAZARESS: I think the most important thing that we have learned, and I will take the word from Henry, is that when a team of people comes together and understands that something has to be done for the good of the patient, there is no -- almost there is no impossibles, no? So, I think that the best thing that we have learned is that us, as a team, we can work and have this warm feeling of seeing those girls going home.
The specific of any scientific development that we may have acquired, it is still too early to actually process that.
KAGAN: Dr. Kawamoto, do you want to add to that?
KAWAMOTO: Well, I think Jorges is absolutely right. It was just not the surgeons. We're just a small part of the whole thing. I mean, it was the nurses, the administration, the orderlies -- the whole team over at UCLA. And actually, we got to know each other a lot better also, although I've worked with Jorges for 10 years now.
It was just really magnificent the way things went, and it was due to planning -- really a lot of planning.
KAGAN: Well, good work, Doctors. Any chance we're going to get to see the girls before they head home?
KAWAMOTO: Oh, I'm sure.
LAZARESS: That's depending on the parents, as well, no? Because the parents also have a sense of privacy with their children.
KAGAN: Yes.
LAZARESS: So, they are the ones who have the final word regarding that, yes.
KAGAN: Understandable, it's just that people all around the world have fallen in love with them, as you pointed out. Doctors, thank you...
LAZARESS: Yes, lovely girls, yes.
KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. Good work, and thanks for taking time in your busy schedule to stop by and give us an update on the twins.
LAZARESS: Thank you.
KAWAMOTO: Thank you.
LAZARESS: Thanks for your interest.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 29, 2002 - 11:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now for an update on the twin girls born joined at the head. You might remember they were separated in a 22-hour surgery in August.
The girls were scheduled to go home to Guatemala today. They are going to have to wait a little bit longer. Doctors concerned about a skin graft on one of the twins' heads.
Dr. Henry Kawamoto and Dr. Jorges Lazaress are part of the girls' medical team, and they join us from Los Angeles with an update on the girls.
Good morning, Doctors -- good to have you with us.
DR. HENRY KAWAMOTO, PLASTIC SURGEON, UCLA'S MATTEL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Good morning.
DR. JORGES LAZARESS, NEUROSURGEON, UCLA'S MATTEL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Good morning.
KAGAN: Can you tell us a little bit more about the delay in getting the girls home?
KAWAMOTO: The skin graft actually took that we had given or placed on them earlier, but there was just a little area of separation, about a small sliver, that we felt would -- that it would be best to keep them a little bit longer until everything was healed.
KAGAN: Yes, so how much longer, do you think?
KAWAMOTO: That's a great question, but I really don't know at the present time. I'll probably know better at the end of the week.
KAGAN: OK, well, we'll check back with you then.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lazaress, overall how are the girls doing?
LAZARESS: They are doing extremely well, and they are progressing weekly. And if you had seen them two or three weeks ago, you would not recognize them, shall I say, by the abilities that they have acquired in the last two or three weeks. They're doing extremely well.
Of course, one of them is lagging behind, but still catching up. And I am absolutely hopeful that, as I said many times, when they will be 5 or 6 years old, they will be able to start school with their peers without any difficulty. KAGAN: That is a great wish, indeed. Developmentally, compared to other kids their age, how does each one measure up?
LAZARESS: They were tested last week by the developmental specialist at our hospital, and they assessed that they are basically -- one of them, Maria de Jesus is at 10 months old. She is at 10 months. And Maria Teresa is like an 8-month-old.
KAWAMOTO: You have to understand that they were physically restrained by being...
KAGAN: Right.
KAWAMOTO: ... connected at their heads, so they couldn't develop a lot of physical things.
KAGAN: So, I'm wondering is it because of the position they were in for the first year of their life, or is it because of what happened when you separated them, something that happened to their brains?
LAZARESS: I think first because of them being conjoined for one year, so they did not develop some of the normal activities that other children of their ages have. And certainly, they now are separated and it must have had some impact on their perception of their surroundings, no? They don't have this counterweight that they had in the past, so they have to be accustomed again of how to sit, stand, to control their body movements.
KAGAN: Sure.
LAZARESS: But basically, their brains are on the neurological status fairly normal.
KAGAN: That's excellent news.
Dr. Kawamoto, how do the girls interact to each other?
KAWAMOTO: Well, it's very interesting, when they were first separated, one of the twins, Maria de Jesus, was feeling the top of her head, wondering where is my twin. And actually, they're very lovable and very cute, and there's going to be a lot of broken hearts at UCLA when they go home, believe me.
KAGAN: Yes, so this isn't just a ruse to keep them around a little bit longer, is it, because you guys have fallen in love with these babies?
KAWAMOTO: Oh, well, you got the truth of it now.
KAGAN: I've gotten to the bottom of this. It's those big, brown eyes. You guys have just melted.
I want to ask you, because I know one reason that this has gotten so much attention is because this was such an unusual case. What have you, as doctors, learned in treating these girls that might help other babies in the future? LAZARESS: I think the most important thing that we have learned, and I will take the word from Henry, is that when a team of people comes together and understands that something has to be done for the good of the patient, there is no -- almost there is no impossibles, no? So, I think that the best thing that we have learned is that us, as a team, we can work and have this warm feeling of seeing those girls going home.
The specific of any scientific development that we may have acquired, it is still too early to actually process that.
KAGAN: Dr. Kawamoto, do you want to add to that?
KAWAMOTO: Well, I think Jorges is absolutely right. It was just not the surgeons. We're just a small part of the whole thing. I mean, it was the nurses, the administration, the orderlies -- the whole team over at UCLA. And actually, we got to know each other a lot better also, although I've worked with Jorges for 10 years now.
It was just really magnificent the way things went, and it was due to planning -- really a lot of planning.
KAGAN: Well, good work, Doctors. Any chance we're going to get to see the girls before they head home?
KAWAMOTO: Oh, I'm sure.
LAZARESS: That's depending on the parents, as well, no? Because the parents also have a sense of privacy with their children.
KAGAN: Yes.
LAZARESS: So, they are the ones who have the final word regarding that, yes.
KAGAN: Understandable, it's just that people all around the world have fallen in love with them, as you pointed out. Doctors, thank you...
LAZARESS: Yes, lovely girls, yes.
KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. Good work, and thanks for taking time in your busy schedule to stop by and give us an update on the twins.
LAZARESS: Thank you.
KAWAMOTO: Thank you.
LAZARESS: Thanks for your interest.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
