I don't know this family at all, but I've been following their story in the Washington Post.
In February, their twin daughters were born...conjoined, attached at the chest.
I've been marveling at the medical technology, like the way doctors inserted saline-filled expanders in the girls' chests so they could grow extra skin they'll need after separation, or how they are going to divide the liver with a harmonic scalpel that ultrasonically coagulates blood, alternating the cutting with ultrasound images that can't be taken at the same time, since the scalpel interfers with the imaging.
I've been impressed by things like this:
The medical team asked Medical Modeling of Golden, Colo., to help it visualize the three-dimensional relationship of the internal organs in the area where the babies are connected. Using data from CAT and MRI scans and employing a computerized "3-D printing" system, the company fabricated three models out of plaster powder. The most elaborate one shows the girls' hearts in different colors and opens at the expected plane of separation to demonstrate how big a hole will have to be closed or covered on each girl with skin and synthetic substitutes. The company has done about $10,000 worth of work, most of it donated, and expects to be paid no more than $3,000, its president said.
But I think the aspect that's really caught my attention has been the faith of the parents. The father was quoted as saying
"I look at death and life differently than she does, knowing that's not the end of the story if both don't make it out of the operating room. It's the cycle. There is a purpose to everything, and the key is understanding it."When we found out about the girls, I wasn't surprised necessarily because to me it was just another opportunity to understand more about the Creator and how He works . . . . Someone's got them this far, and it wasn't me, it wasn't Dr. Macedonia, it's not Dr. Hartman."
and
"We can't control when we're born, and we can't control when we die," Kevin said, sweeping the girls into his arms for another trip to the hospital. "And it's just vanity to think we can control anything in between."
I'll be thinking of them today, as the doctors attempt the separation surgery at Children's Hospital. As I said, I don't know them, but I think I can learn a lot from them.
(Here are the links to all of the Post articles about the twins.)