Father of newborn conjoined twins appeals for help

[Kooshdakhaa]

Did they send them home just to die?

If they have one heart between them, they can't be separated. Once they start to get bigger, the heart will get weaker, working for two bodies. One of the twins may have to be sacrificed to save the other.

They can get heart transplants.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

The thing we have to remember is that each of these sets of conjoined twins is two separate human beings. Yes, they are physically joined, but they are two different people. They have separate brains.

This is the sort of thing that makes it difficult for me to believe in God. Sorry, God, don't strike me down, it's just beyond my comprehension, that is all.

 

[Noomi]

Did they send them home just to die?

If they have one heart between them, they can't be separated. Once they start to get bigger, the heart will get weaker, working for two bodies. One of the twins may have to be sacrificed to save the other.

They can get heart transplants.

The risk may be so great that no doctor will operate.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

If they have one heart between them, they can't be separated. Once they start to get bigger, the heart will get weaker, working for two bodies. One of the twins may have to be sacrificed to save the other.

They can get heart transplants.

The risk may be so great that no doctor will operate.

You said that if they have one heart between them, they CAN'T be separated. That's not necessarily true. It may be very difficult but not impossible. This is from the article she posted about the twins sharing a heart:

'However, both of them share the same heart and we have to decide what to do. At one stage we were considering leaving the heart in one child and a transplant for the other but I now think the heart is not strong enough on its own.
'It will be ok for a while but what looks most likely is an artificial heart for one to begin with and then we need to start to look for two donor hearts - which for young babies will be very difficult.'

Read more: The twins who share a heart | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[Noomi]

They can get heart transplants.

The risk may be so great that no doctor will operate.

You said that if they have one heart between them, they CAN'T be separated. That's not necessarily true. It may be very difficult but not impossible. This is from the article she posted about the twins sharing a heart:

'However, both of them share the same heart and we have to decide what to do. At one stage we were considering leaving the heart in one child and a transplant for the other but I now think the heart is not strong enough on its own.
'It will be ok for a while but what looks most likely is an artificial heart for one to begin with and then we need to start to look for two donor hearts - which for young babies will be very difficult.'

Read more: The twins who share a heart | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

They say it will be very hard to find two hearts. Also, what if they only have one set of aorta's etc? They will have to create new ones, which will also be difficult.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Nobody said it wouldn't be difficult.

 

[Noomi]

IFF the doctors are the very most skilled in all the world AND everyone gets lucky, ONE of those girls might get to live a normal life.

The odds are very very slim, and someone would have to try to choose which one to try to save. I suspect one reason they're not doing anything right away is that they're waiting to see which of the girls might be a bit stronger and thus have a slightly better chance.

It is a terrible situation for the parents, to be sure.

That is what I think, too.

I watched a TV show once, I think it was Strong Medicine - they had conjoined twins, both girls, and only one would live if separated, and the parents had to choose which one to say goodbye to. They eventually chose to terminate the life of the weaker twin. The episode ended with the blood supply of the weaker twin being cut.

It is sad to think about it, but its either they both die, or one lives.

 

[strollingbones]

it is not heartless to deal with reality now is it?

the inability of the parents to select a twin to live...will kill both of them....the little heart cant support both bodies...the stronger of the twins should get the heart and be given a chance to live...

 

[Katzndogz]

Did they send them home just to die?

I can't imagine the 'thinking' that led to this remark.

I think that anyone who doesn't have the I.Q. of a moron realizes that the only reason she has mentioned these twins is because they happen to be Palestinians twins. If these twins happened to have been born in some place like Guatemala or Poland, they would have never been mentioned. In fact, if they had happened to be born in her own hometown, we would never have heard of them from her.

It is some pretty transparent attempt to blame Israel for the deaths of these babies when it occurs.

 

[strollingbones]

so the medical bottom line is the heart wont support one child....the children are doomed....

and let me ask you this...how much money should be expended on this?

 

[MHunterB]

Medscape: Medscape Access

"Survival in excess of 20 years after pediatric heart transplantation has been achieved. Most programs now report that more than 70% of their recipients survive at least 5 years. However, although an additional 5 years of life is important for all, the goal of pediatric heart transplantation is to provide as much of a normal life span for these children as possible."

Those are not very good odds at all. : (( And artificial hearts have been less successful.

 

[MHunterB]

The question about cost is a valid one: whether one likes the fact or not, all health care is 'rationed' by cost and access. There are tens of thousands of children doomed to a 'fringe' existence in third-world nations because of simple easily correctable birth defects like cleft palate.

The cost of even attempting to save one of these little girl's lives would pay for how many of those cleft palate surgeries?

What is the 'right' choice, the 'moral' choice? The 'practical' choice is to wait and see which one of these babies is stronger- and to take the other's life. And that version of the surgery is still going to cost more than the parents will likely earn in their lifetimes.

When discussing 'donor' hearts: this means someone else's precious baby had to die - suddenly and traumatically! - to provide the 'miracle' of even a slim chance for the second baby girl.

 

[MikeK]

Looking at this poor creature, and I refer to it in the singular form simply because of its cruelly pathetic reality, I'm wondering why no one has even vaguely mentioned the prospect of merciful euthanasia. Even if it survives, what sort of life can this tragic aberration expect to lead? I can't even imagine the tormenting routine of daily miseries it would be relegated to.

Even if its parents were wealthy and could afford to provide it with every conceivable comfort there is no question in my mind that it would be better off having died at birth.

Speaking of a 'heartless bitch' ^^^^^^^^

Are you thinking of the parents' pain, which is a totally selfish perspective, or of the future miseries of Nature's cruel accident?

If you were born with an attached sibling which could not be removed, do you believe you could possibly live without the constant and frequently agonizing wish you'd died or been euthanized at birth? What kind of life could you have? What could you do? Where could you go? What could possibly make you happy?

Give it some thought.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

The thing we have to remember is that each of these sets of conjoined twins is two separate human beings. Yes, they are physically joined, but they are two different people. They have separate brains.

This is the sort of thing that makes it difficult for me to believe in God. Sorry, God, don't strike me down, it's just beyond my comprehension, that is all.

Well, after reading the article in Haaretz about the mother's faith, I am not as concerned about her. She obviously knows God is with her and she puts her trust in Him. I am more convinced then ever that God definitely has a purpose and plan for the lives of these babies.

I personally know a story of a woman who took a pregnancy to term very much like this, knowing the baby would not live. Through her experiences, her father became a Christian and spent the last year of his life filled with life and love, he was one of those enthusiastic Christians who let everyone know what God meant to him. The lives he touched and affected, it all came about because of a baby conceived and allowed to be carried to term who had no ability to survive past about about one day of life.

My prayers now are for this family to turn the lives of their baby daughters over to God and listen to what God calls them to do and go where He leads them and find comfort and solace with one another and in Him.

I just did another internet search and can find no new developments, except for some more photos from I think the local hospital they are now in inside the West Bank.

I will post the photos, and keep these babies in my prayers and continue to share their story with my friends and my church.

Sherri

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

so the medical bottom line is the heart wont support one child....the children are doomed....

and let me ask you this...how much money should be expended on this?

We do not know what the facts are of the case of these two babies, whether one is stronger than the other. I expect in this type of case there are many hospitals and doctors who may want to handle cases like their cases, in places where there is specialization in this field. It can be seen as an opportunity to advance medical treatment. So, I do not think cost should be an issue.

We have seen cases where separation saves the life of one baby, and one article I provided a link for addresses possibilities of saving both babies in cases like this, using an artificial heart or donated hearts.

Sherri

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

http://www.wtop.com/267/3345345/Conjoined-twins-share-heart

 

[MikeK]

Well, after reading the article in Haaretz about the mother's faith, I am not as concerned about her. She obviously knows God is with her and she puts her trust in Him. I am more convinced then ever that God definitely has a purpose and plan for the lives of these babies.

[...]

What kind of god does something like this? What is it -- a cruel joke?

I was baptized and confirmed Catholic and I attended Catholic school, but I've been a self-confirmed atheist since about age fifteen. And things like this is just one of the reasons why.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

We do not see the full picture of any persons existence. I do not believe our life on earth is the full picture and I believe these children who we see seemingly suffer so much in their lives here, I simply believe God has wonders in store for them in Heaven that I cannot even begin to imagine.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

"Note: In 2003 this poem was written for all the dead children from our recent [and present] wars, for those children lost in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon… But today we have just lost [and continue to lose] young innocent lives in a fit of madness again revealing the devastating psychic cracks in our society, be it from incessant crime shows, irrational gun romance, romanticized gangster rap… And these are just the tips of the icebergs…So now this poem is for the lost children (and adults) of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, and all their loved ones, here and everywhere…" ______________________________________________"Angels are learning new tricks to entertain all thedead childrenjust bringing them to a quiet place used to be enoughblue panels sonorous as cool winds rising toinfinite heights andluminous rivers tasting of fresh milk andpassionflower honeyBut now they are more restless and want somethinglively such as fabulous displays and realstellar extravaganzas to shut out the memories......" Poem: All the Dead Children | Ecstatic Exchange / Poetry of Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

 

[Noomi]

it is not heartless to deal with reality now is it?

the inability of the parents to select a twin to live...will kill both of them....the little heart cant support both bodies...the stronger of the twins should get the heart and be given a chance to live...

That would be the best option - to see which twin is strongest, and to save that one, while allowing the other to die.