Conjoined Twins Who Faced Each Other Separated In California Surgery

Introduction

Two-year-old twins Eva and Erika Sandoval are attached from the sternum

They shared a digestive system, uterus, liver, bladder, and a third leg

The girls began 18-hour separation on December 6 after months of preparation

The operation in California carries a 30% risk of death

But as they grow conjoined they are suffering more and more health issues

Eva would keep bladder, Erika would keep third leg, both would require significant lower body reconstruction.

#1 They share a digestive system, a uterus, a liver, a bladder, and a third leg with a seven-toed foot

On Tuesday at 7am, they were wheeled into the operating theater at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford for what was expected to be an 18-hour operation.

The surgery - involving 50 orthopedic, plastic, and urology surgeons - carries a 30 percent risk that one or both of them won't make it.

#2 Both will be missing vital body parts

Eva will likely keep their bladder, while Erika gets a colostomy bag.

Erika, the weaker twin, may keep their third leg while Eva gets the other two.

Both will be missing vital body parts; both will need significant reconstruction of their lower bodies.

#3 This is going to be one of the hardest surgery for doctors as well as the twins

'This is a worrisome number because in most cases doctors only perform with a tenth of a percent chance of fatality,' their parents Aida and Arturo wrote on their Facebook page.

'It's hard to see the numbers and find comfort on the odds.

'But ... from the beginning our girls have superseded the doctors expectations of life and will continue to show us their strength.'

Lead surgeon Dr Gary Hartman told the Sacramento Bee the biggest concern is preventing blood loss when it comes to severing the liver and the pelvic bone.

Once the 18-hour separation is over, each girl will be taken into separate operating rooms for 'extensive reconstruction from the abdomen down,' the Bee reports.

#4 And it gets worse with time

The Bee calls Eva 'the larger and more dominant twin' and describes how she carries them both around.

'She thrust forward with two arms and one thick leg, while her sister scrambled to support herself on spaghetti-thin limbs, sometimes giving up entirely and letting herself be dragged along,' reporter Sammy Caiola writes.

Aida told the paper: 'In moments where one is tired or she's sick, and the other wants to go play, I want her to be able to do that.

'That's something they'll get when they're separated their individual limelight.'

The couple is raising money to cover the cost of their living and medical expenses via YouCaring.