Separated Twins Back At
Home
Two year-old twin girls
that were formerly
conjoined at the chest
and abdomen are back at
home in Costa Rica.
Yurelia and Fiorella
Rocha-Arias were
separated by surgery at
Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital at
Stanford in November and
flew back home yesterday.
The girls arrived in the
U.S. in July and began
receiving weekly
injections of sterile
salt water into balloons
placed under their skin.
The procedure stretched
the skin to compensate
for the holes surgeons
cut into their abdomens.
After the separation
surgery, Yurelia needed
follow-up heart surgery
to correct some
deformities. After the
operations, her heart
started to function
normally.
After four months of
being in the United
States, the twins and
their mother,
accompanied by Mending
Kids international and
Lucille Packard doctors,
took part in a press
conference at the
Marriott hotel in San
José.
The Arias-Rocha family
spent the night at the
luxurious Marriott
before heading to their
humble home today.
María Arias thanked
everyone who has
supported her and her
twins.
Mending Kids and the
Lucille Packard hospital
picked up the entire tab
for the operation and
stay in the United
States, as well as the
Ronal Macdonald House in
California where the
twins spent their
recuperation time after
the surgery.
Researchers estimate the
incidence of conjoined
twins to be between 1 in
30,000 to 1 in 200,000
worldwide.
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