Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Guatemalan Twins Spend First Full Day Separated

Aired August 07, 2002 - 14:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So far so good for those Guatemalan twins who are spending their first full day as separated sisters.
National correspondent Gary Tuchman is standing by outside UCLA Medical Center with an update from there.

Hi -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, hello to you.

And a day after their successful marathon surgery, the two baby girls from Guatemala are doing very well considering all they've gone through.

As we speak, they are sleeping. They slept through the night. Much of that is due to the sedation they're receiving. And that's par for the course. But the chief anesthesiologist tells us they will start lightening the load of sedation in the days to come and continue to offer pain medication as necessary. The chief neurologist, the man in charge of this 50-member operating team yesterday that went out there for 22 hours performing the surgery, says Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus are on target for recovery, and he adds he is optimistic about their chances to live full and normal lives. That is great news.

The pictures, by the way, are just amazing. We just don't get tired of watching these pictures of these little girls, who for a year and two weeks of their lives were head to head. They never have seen each other -- and now separated with bandages on their heads, lots of tubes. But doctors saying they believe they very well could lead normal lives.

This morning, we talked with members of the medical team. We got them up at 4:30 in the morning local time to talk even though they had been up for the last two days. But they were very happy to do it because they have a lot of pride. And the chief plastic surgeon talked about the pride he had for his team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. HENRY KAWAMOTO, UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: This is the -- well, not the entire surgical team, but people from anesthesia and plastic surgery and neurosurgery. And I must say one of best things about this operation was a great teamwork we had.

And you cannot believe in the operating room it was very calm, very orderly. We were telling jokes. And actually, probably the only argument what was album we were going to be playing at that time and at what volume.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: That was Dr. Kawamoto. In addition to being a very good doctor, he's a very funny guy, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a comedy club some day. But yesterday, during the news conference after the surgery, someone asked him about the appearances of girls following the surgery, and he said hey, their hair styles won't be as bad as students here at UCLA. A sense of humor will take you a long way in any business, particularly, I guess, his business.

Either way, the parents right now are inside the hospital. They have asked the hospital for their privacy right now, but we are being told they are very grateful. And they've very anxious to talk to their two young girls and see their girls smile at them. And that could happen any day now. Anesthesiologists are just watching very closely to see how much they can lighten up the doses of sedation.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: It's great news.

Gary, what album did they play, by the way?

TUCHMAN: Kyra, as a good reporter, I should know who it is, but I would tell you, if I was in operating room I would pick the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. That would be my first -- I'll find out.

PHILLIPS: All right, you check out with the -- you let us know.

Gary Tuchman, thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com