For anyone that has been following this blog, you’ll probably remember that way back in 2017 my son-in-law, Dr. Samir Pandya, along with the assistance of Dr. Whitney McBride and a good portion of the esteemed surgical staff at Maria Ferrari Childrens Hospital in Westchester, New York, successfully separated conjoined twins who were connected at their spine and shared several internal organs. A minute long commercial ran at the conclusion to the 2017 Super Bowl, congratulating the parents and pointing towards the complexities of performing such a procedure. I’ve posted both before and after photos of the twins, who are now fully ambulatory and are destined to lead long and fruitful lives, just as it was intended, thanks to their 20 plus hour long operation.
On a recent trip to Dallas, I mentioned that I had received a photo of the twins from their mother, who are now five-years old, and looking perfectly healthy. His response, rather curiously, was “which set of twins were in the photograph?” I looked at him, unsure of what he meant by that flippant remark, not putting two and two together until he filled me in further. Turns out that just a few weeks ago he, along with the eminent staff of the Childrens Hospital of Dallas, successfully separated a second set of conjoined babies, this time around connected at the liver. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos to share with you but suffice it to say that he has entered a rather select worldwide fraternity of medical professionals who have now separated multiple sets of conjoined twins. Needless to say, they look forward to helping other young families in their quest towards leading normal lives, all with the help of modern medicine and the patience and fortitude of doctors such as Samir.
I’ll get off of my soapbox now. Oh, and if you aren’t already doing so, wear a mask. If he can wear it for over 20 hours, you can do it for just a few scant minutes every day. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving….