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New York City, NY (August 9, 2004) -- “My dream has come true,” said a smiling Arlene Aguirre, the Filipino mother of two formerly conjoined twins, as she faced a bank of reporters and TV cameras at a news conference today at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM). Just five days ago surgeons at CHAM separated the boys in the fourth in a series of surgeries designed to separate the 27-month-old brothers.
“I have missed being able to hold them separately…and I want to be able to play with them one-by-one,” Arlene said. “I want to see them sitting, walking…and for them to be able to see each other.”
Resting and recovering in side-by-side beds, the twins remain stable, sedated and under close observation in CHAM’s pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Both boys are actively moving their arms and legs, yet the twins have not yet seen each other. “We will probably organize that moment for them and for Arlene later this week,” confirmed pediatric neurosurgeon James T. Goodrich, MD, and pediatric plastic surgeon David Staffenberg, MD, the boys’ two lead surgeons.
Arlene was asked by the media if she had been afraid at any point about moving forward with the surgery, even at the most critical moments. “I had already decided to do this and knew the boys were in good hands with Dr. Goodrich and Dr. Staffenberg,” she said.
“Medically, the recovery is beyond our expectations. I couldn’t be happier,” said Dr. Staffenberg. Dr. Goodrich added, “Carl, the larger twin, has developed some fluid around the brain, but it may resolve spontaneously. We’re keeping an eye on that.”
The surgeons said they are being very cautious about the boys’ recovery, and will keep Carl and Clarence at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore for two or three weeks before they return to Blythedale Children’s Hospital for continuing therapy. The boys will require additional reconstructive and cosmetic surgery over the next one to two years which will also be done at CHAM.
When asked about the flood of supportive e-mails she has been receiving through the CHAM website (http://www.montekids.org/), Arlene said, “I am just a single mother and to get e-mails from all over the world…the moral support is unbelievable. I don’t even know these people and they are so generous with their thoughts and prayers.”
Arlene said she has been enjoying four-to-five hours of sleep in the past few days, a real improvement over the two-to-three hours she had sometimes gotten before the surgery.
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Chief, Critical Care Medicine
We treat the most fragile patients in Montefiore’s medical, surgical, neurological and cardiothoracic intensive care units, but critical care at Montefiore also extends beyond those areas. Our unique "ICU Without Walls" service is a rapid response team of intensivists and respiratory therapists who are on call 24/7 to evaluate and treat patients in need of critical care in other areas of the hospital.
