Reincarnation of Hindu god to have extra limbs removed

[CaptainChewbacca]

Fixed

Toddler with eight limbs branded 'reincarnation of Hindu god' to undergo life-saving operation

A toddler born with eight limbs and believed by some to be the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess Vishnu, is set to undergo a 40-hour operation to remove half of her limbs.

Lakshmi Tatma was born joined to a 'parasitic twin' and will go under the knife at the hands of 30 surgeons to remove two of her useless arms and legs.

The headless 'twin' is joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis and has its own spinal column and kidney.

Without the operation the little girl would never be able to walk or crawl and would be unlikely to live past her early teens, doctors said.

The extraordinary eight-limbed baby was born in a poverty-stricken region of Bihar, India - on the day devoted to the celebration of the four-armed Hindu deity Vishnu.

Her mother Poonam Tatma said she believed her daughter was "a miracle, a reincarnation" of Vishnu.

Dr Sharan Patil, who will be leading the surgery at the country's Narayana Health City, in Bangalore, said: "Fortunately, Lakshmi has one complete body with a near perfect set of organs.

"Her skeletal system involves two bodies which are fused together at the level of the pelvis.

"The operation itself, although presents several challenges, is not the most complex in the world. What is highly unusual in Lakshmi's case is precisely how her bodies are fused, almost mirroring each other."

Parents Poonam Devi and Shambu Das, who earn about 50p a day as casual labourers, were turned away from several hospitals before her plight was taken up by Dr Patil.

The operation is expected to cost about £100,000.

Poonam, who gave birth to Lakshmi on the celebration day of the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity after whom the new born was named, said: "She is a miracle, a special blessing from God. But she is my daughter and she cannot live like this."

I'm glad her parents are getting her the help she needs instead of exploiting her or turning her into a religious icon. That being said, I think that's one of the crazy-awesomeest things I've ever seen, even if she does look more like Kali than Vishnu.

[Dartzap]

Your mother clearly needs to help you to get your links dressed

Certainly an interesting case - I'll watch Bodyshocks when its aired, certainly.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Your mother clearly needs to help you to get your links dressed

That SHOULD have worked, unless I'm having a stroke. Could someone fix it?

[andrewgpaul]

Is it maybe the apostrophes and + signs in the URL that are making the board software throw a wobbler? The same thing happened to me, and I don't think it was just me being a 'tard.

[andrewgpaul]

on topic; Fuck Me! Is that basically 'siamese twins' with one twin lacking a head?

Also, why do all these sorts of things seem to happen in the third world? Is it just because there's more people in the third world?

[Kanastrous]

Also, why do all these sorts of things seem to happen in the third world? Is it just because there's more people in the third world?

A wild guess: possibly because in the third world it's easier to flood the environment with teratogens, and get away with it.

[Morilore]

Also: poor nutrition leads to birth defects.

[Broomstick]

on topic; Fuck Me! Is that basically 'siamese twins' with one twin lacking a head?

Yes.

Also, why do all these sorts of things seem to happen in the third world? Is it just because there's more people in the third world?

Well, yes, to some extent. Roughly the same percentage of conceptions result in this sort of thing, but where you have absolutely greater numbers of people, the same percentage of a defect gives you absolutely greater number of cases.

Also, in the first world these cases are frequently
1) Aborted early
2) Taken care of shortly after birth in a quiet, private matter instead of the parents having to beg publicly for medical care for their children.

Conjoined twins are not, to my knowledge, associated with toxins, pollution, or with poor nutrition (although other birth defects are).

[LadyTevar]

Ok... I have to ask. Are her genitals there at all? I'm going to assume, since she's not dying of sepsis, that she's got some way of removing bodily wastes, but from the pictures included in the article not only are her own legs twisted to the side, but it looks like she has no genital area at all!

Hell, does the parasite twin have a set, or does Lakshmi do all the work? How many organs do they share?

PS: Nitram can't get the URL to work right either, and he's thinking it's the quote marks. However, remove the quotemarks and the url doesn't work

[Broomstick]

The exact nature of her plumbing cannot be determined from the article and pictures given.

There have been instances of conjoined twins where the two share just one functioning set of excretory or genital organs. In some cases only one set of organs forms, in other instances there are two sets but only one set is functional. The thing is, each case is different. Obviously, there is some sort of functional plumbing in this girl, otherwise she would not have lived so long. The problem here is probably that you have one set of heart and and lungs support nearly twice the normal body mass, and having to pump blood through a lot of body mass that isn't efficiently connected. A young girl with a young, strong heart can cope with it, but as she grows older and her parasitic twin grows larger there will be more and more strain on her cardiovascular system.

Which isn't to say she's doomed - other people have lived long lives with parasitic twins of various size and development attached to them - but it's clearly not a normal situation, either. And there's the detail that it is very difficult for her to get around. In addition to separation surgery, she'll probably need further surgery to give her reasonably straight legs and a lot of rehab work for her to walk.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Many thanks to whoever fixed the link. From what the article says, it seems like she'd have a full set of organs, because it looks like they 'mirror' each-other, and the mirror point is below the pelvis.

[Hillary]

I would like to pay tribute to Heather from Albuquerque, who is not afraid to demonstrate that even the terminally stupid can use the internet.

From the comments section.

"Why do doctors say she must have the limbs removed? In these photographs she looks healthy and happy. Unusual birth defect or not, look at her beautiful face. She is extraordinary."

[Phantasee]

Hillary

That reminds me of the "medical expert" in Congress who thought that the Schiavo lady was perfectly fine because he watched a tape of her.

[Broomstick]

"Why do doctors say she must have the limbs removed?

Because those extra limbs hamper her ability to move --

Because the size of the parasitic twin is such that it may be over-taxing her vital organs and could eventually kill her --

It's wonderful to be "accepting", but not the point of being stupid.

[NecronLord]

Watching this on the news yesterday, I believe it was mentioned that the parasitic twin has functioning kidneys at least. It's surprising, and in a way pleasing, to see the local hicks react positively to a disabled child. I can only hope that they retain that attitude. I wonder if any of those dieties were ever inspired by someone with four arms...

As for the moronic commenter, happy and healthy? Nah. She'd have to be able to walk and survive for that.

[Spin Echo]

link

Looks like the operation was a success.

BANGALORE, India (CNN ) -- An Indian toddler born with four arms and four legs was recovering in the intensive care unit early Wednesday after surgeons in India successfully completed a mammoth 27-hour operation to remove her "parasitic twin," head surgeon Dr. Sharan Patil said.

Speaking to reporters, Patil said although 2-year-old Lakshmi Tatma is being monitored closely after a team of some 30 surgeons removed her four additional limbs, she is "stable and sound."

The operation was conducted by specialists in pediatrics, neurosurgery, orthopedics and plastic surgery. Without it, doctors say, Lakshmi would be unlikely to survive beyond early adolescence.

"Every step of it was successful," Patil said of the operation. "There was no set back what so ever. The team worked through the night relentlessly."

Later in the day the girl's parents are slated to visit her, he said. Her parents have been given regular updates but were not allowed to see their daughter during the operation. Watch doctors declare surgery a success »

The task began early Tuesday in the southern Indian city of Bangalore and went through the night, with surgeons working eight-hour shifts.

The conjoined twin stopped developing in the mother's womb, and has a torso and limbs, but no head. It was joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis.

When Lakshmi was born into a poor, rural Indian family, villagers in the remote settlement of Rampur Kodar Katti in the northern state of Bihar believed she was sacred. As news of her birth spread, locals queued for a blessing from the baby. Watch images of Lakshmi as she prepares for surgery »

Her parents, Shambhu and Poonam Tatma, named the girl after the Hindu goddess of wealth who has four arms. However, they were forced to keep her in hiding after they were approached by men offering money in exchange for putting their daughter in a circus.

The couple, who earn just $1 a day as casual laborers, wanted her to have the operation but were unable to pay for the rare procedure, which has never before been performed in India.

After Patil visited the girl in her village from Narayana Health City hospital in Bangalore, the hospital's foundation agreed to fund the $200,000 operation.

Planning for the surgery took a month, Patil said, and Lakshmi spent that month in the hospital.

"We are quite optimistic," Patil told CNN earlier. "We do expect that she should be able to walk normally and lead a normal life."

Many villagers, however, remain opposed to surgery and are planning to erect a temple to Lakshmi, who they still revere as sacred.

Patil said Lakshmi's parents are "very practical" and knew the risks of the medical treatment. Asked about the belief she is a reincarnation of the goddess, he said, "She's a very charming young girl, and I'm sure she'll grow up and be something special."

[Darth Servo]

Well, glad to here things went well.

[Phillip Hone]

Amazing. I'm glad that the operation worked.

I wonder if removing the parasite will invoke any anger from the Schiavo crowd. After all, the fact that it lacked the ability to feel emotion or think shouldn't stop them from being outraged.

[Darth Wong]

I wonder if removing the parasite will invoke any anger from the Schiavo crowd. After all, the fact that it lacked the ability to feel emotion or think shouldn't stop them from being outraged.

However, it's a freak. Many of these people will dismiss it as an aberration against God's plan, probably caused by man's misdeeds, rather than a person who needed to be saved. Also, it's not a white person.

[Sarevok]

Luckily the "pro life" madness which I read about here has not become a fad in south asia; yet.

But one never knows what Indians yuppies (eg Arundhati Roy) without a hippie cause or hindu fundies will do next....