8-Limbed Girl Recovering From Surgery

MUMBAI, India, Nov. 13, 2007 — -- It was only for a few moments, but it was enough: Little Lakshmi Tatma showed the world that she is doing OK.

The 2-year-old Indian girl who had extra arms and legs removed last week in a marathon surgery made her first public appearance since the operation at a news conference this afternoon at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore.

Lakshmi is out of the intensive care unit and, doctors say, on her way to a long and slow recovery.

"She is coping very well, and she is stable," said chief surgeon Sharan Patil. "Lakshmi is safe at the moment."

Patil barely left the hospital for five days last week to ensure the health of the girl who has captured the world's attention. Patil led the team of 30 surgeons who separated what was essentially a headless parasitic twin joined at the girl's pelvis.

Parasitic twins differ from conjoined twins in that they are not fully formed and they depend upon the body functions of the twin's complete fetus.

During the surgery, the spine was cut to remove the extra limbs and the wide gap between Lakshmi's pelvic bones was closed using bone grafts. The closed gap was a significant accomplishment for the surgeons, who had thought they may have to close it over the course of several surgeries.

"We still have things to do, but so far, so good," Patil said.

Lakshmi's father, Shambhu, carried the girl whose legs were in casts but whose arms were free to the news conference. But the scene was so frenzied that she became uncomfortable and was removed almost immediately.

Lakshmi has begun eating solid food again and has been off her respirator since Friday. She has months of rehabilitation ahead of her, including potential surgery to fix her club feet, as well as an additional surgery due to the repositioning of her organs. But doctors do not expect to do these surgeries soon.

Since the marathon 27-hour surgery to remove extra limbs from little Lakshmi's body, her progress is now being measured in small but significant increments. After coming off the ventilator over the weekend, she also drank some milk and wiggled her toes. On Sunday she ate three pieces of bread. These steps of progress indicate that the 2-year-old is recovering very well.

The biggest concern right now is the possibility of infection due to the enormous wounds from her surgery. Patil said that perhaps the most significant indication that Lakshmi is making progress is that she appears to understand what has happened to her.