A long surgery performed on Monday at the Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center gave a pair of conjoined twins their lives back as single individuals.

 

The twins, two-month-old Preslee Faith and Kylee Hope Wells, were born in Oklahoma City on October 25 to Stevie Stewart and Kyle Wells of Calumet. They were joined at the torso, with tissue connecting their hearts, rib cages and liver. Doctors waited two months before performing the surgery because “we wanted the organs to get a little bigger, a little stronger,” hospital spokesman Allen Poston said.

 

After the surgery, the girls were placed on their backs on different beds in the operating room so that the surgeons could begin the closing process. David Tuggle and Cameron Mantor led the team of surgeons.

 

The girls, who are thought to be the first known American Indian conjoined twins, are listed in critical condition and are in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, where they’ve been cared for since their birth. Their parents will be able to visit them as soon as they have some recovery time.

 

The father of the girls said they “are very thankful to the physicians and surgical stuff at Children’s Hospital. We appreciate all that prayers and hope people will keep us in their thoughts over the next few weeks.”

 

Apparently, there is no need to worry about the girls. They seem to have good chances of survival because they had separate hearts and did not share any major blood vessels and the surgery went really well.

 

May they live a long, happy life!