Conjoined Twins to be Separated Tomorrow

Conjoined Twins to be Separated Tomorrow


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(KSL News) -- The doctors are ready, the parents are nervous and the patients are healthy and happy.

Tomorrow morning, conjoined twins Allyson and Avery Clark will undergo separation surgery at Primary Children's Medical Center. They have been at the hospital for a couple of weeks with skin expanders, preparing for separation.

The eight-month-old girls are joined at the base of their spine; their spinal cords touch at the very bottom. Doctors are concerned about the nerves there that go to their bowels and bladders.

Conjoined Twins to be Separated Tomorrow

Neurosurgeon John Kestle said, "We may cause no damage tomorrow and still have abnormal bowel and bladders as they grow up, and we can tell that they're abnormal. Or we could injure them and make them abnormal tomorrow."

The doctors won't say how long they expect the twins to stay in the hospital recovering, probably a week.

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