Jacksonville

Conjoined Twins Recovering From Surgery in Jacksonville

A pair of conjoined twin boys are recovering from their second surgery at a Jacksonville hospital.

Doctors say Conner and Carter Mirabal will remain conjoined for the time being, and it may be several months before they need surgery again.

The twins were born Dec. 12 sharing an intestine. They had their first surgery when they were just hours old.

"They are doing wonderful on their own," their mother, Michelle Brantley, said Monday. "We're taking it day by day."

Wolfson Children's Hospital officials tell The Florida Times-Union that the boys are believed to be the first conjoined twins ever treated in Jacksonville.

The hospital's chief of pediatric surgery says the twins have separate hearts, livers and bile ducts, but the livers and bile ducts are fused. Dr. Daniel Robie says the twins need to be healthier and stronger before surgeons attempt to completely separate them.

"The good thing is that their hearts are separate," Robie said. "That's a huge positive."

The twins no longer need a ventilator and should soon begin receiving nutrition and hydration orally instead of intravenously, said Josef Cortez, a neonatologist with University of Florida College of Medicine- Jacksonville.

Brantley said she and the boys' father, Bryan Mirabal, first learned the twins were conjoined in July during routine tests.

"It was shocking," she said. "It took forever to wrap our heads around it."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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