NBC5.com Story

 

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- A historic operation is being performed Friday in the Dominican Republic on an infant born with a second head.

 

The surgery is designed to remove the second head, which has a partially formed brain, ears, eyes and lips. It's risky because the two heads share arteries.

 

A team of 18 surgeons, nurses and doctors from the UCLA Medical Center will spend about 13 hours in the operating room. During that time, they will cut off the undeveloped tissue, clip the veins and arteries and close the skull of the 7-week-old baby. 

 

This kind of surgery has never been performed before.

 

The case of "Baby Rebeca" -- as she is known -- is only the eighth documented case of its kind in the world. And in each of the other seven cases, the fetuses died before birth.

 

I hope the doctors can pull this off and the child will have a healthy and normal life.

Now for the wrong joke...

 

I thought two heads were better than one?

does anyone else now kind of want to see what that looks like?

does anyone else now kind of want to see what that looks like?

I sort of do and now I feel kinda evil about that...

it's pretty odd so here is a link

Heads

 

(This has a small picture....so...you're warned)

Edited February 5, 200422 yr by Soxheads

Sweet Jesus....

oh....my.....god

NBC5.com Story

 

 

 

I hope the doctors can pull this off and the child will have a healthy and normal life.

Didn't you read your own post quote, 14?? It's a lot more complicated than just "pulling it off." There's 18 doctors, a 13-hour surgery, etc., etc...

Now if it was like just an extra leg or something, then I guess pulling it off might be an option.

 

it's pretty odd so here is a link

Heads

does anyone else now kind of want to see what that looks like?

I do!!!

The second head looks like a monkeys head.

 

If the kid pulls through this, that will look great on his night stand.

Guys enough with the jokes. It's getting disgusting.

two guys walk into a bar

 

one ducks

Guys enough with the jokes. It's getting disgusting.

I agree. Let's quit while we're a head.

There's 5 more pictures of the 2-headed baby on Ogrish

 

http://www.ogrish.com/index2.php?include=v...4668&&element=8

Damn, I will have to wait until I go home - can't access it from here...

 

PS - I hope she is doing well and the doctors know what they are doing...

Yahoo has a more in depth story about this with a few pictures (might be the same in the other link in this post, but I can't access it so I don't know for certain).

 

This is a yahoo link so I don't know how long it will last.

So far so good!

 

Almost there - the operation is 90% complete. Docs say they can't celebrate yet, but so far so good.

Duh, forgot to mention - the above link is a yahoo link - don't know how long it will stay active.

Very sad news. It would have been something if they had been able to save this little girl. Sadly, I don't think they had any other choice except to try to do what may have been impossible. Her family will be in my thoughts.

My heart goes out to the parents. Nature never intended for parents to bury their children.

Damn. 90% of the way there...now I understand why the doctors were so hesitant about being optomistic. Hopefully they learn from this and can apply what they learned the next time a baby is born this way so that child survives.

 

Prayers and thoughts definitely go out to her and her family.