**UPDATE** Babygirl Lakshmi's Left the building!!

Girl Born With 8 Limbs Leaves Hospital
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(story edited by ivent)

BANGALORE, India — A 2-year-old girl who was born with four arms

and four legs left a hospital in southern India on Saturday, little more than a month after surgeons successfully removed her extra
limbs. (story continued below)

(enlarge photo)
Lakshmi, 2, center, sits in her father's lap as her brother, right, looks on before she was discharged from the Sparsha Hospital in Bangalore, India, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007. Lakshmi, an Indian girl born with four arms and four legs was discharged from the hospital after a successful operation where doctors removed her extra limbs. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

The surgeon who led more than 30 doctors in the marathon surgery said Lakshmi was making good progress and should be mobile soon.

"Lakshmi is fine and stable," chief surgeon Dr. Sharan Patil told The Associated Press. "She should face no problem in walking."

Lakshmi was born joined at the pelvis to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped twin.

A team of more than 30 surgeons performed a 24-hour operation on Nov. 7 at the Sparsh hospital in Bangalore, the capital of southern Karnataka state. They removed the extra limbs, transplanted a kidney from the twin and reconstructed Lakshmi's pelvic area.

"Lakshmi is a hero," Patil said Saturday.

"Lakshmi, who never turned (over) earlier, started turning after the surgery. She was even able to stand for 10 minutes on the bed holding the window grill, which is remarkable," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Patil as saying.

Lakshmi's parents said they were taking her back to their rural village in eastern Bihar state where she had been revered by some as an incarnation of the four-armed Hindu goddess she was named after.

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You go, Lakshmi!!!
I hope to hear good things about her, in the future!!

*UPDATE* Lakshmi!!

My honorary baby, Lakshmi, is doing wonderful!!

She's out of Intensive Care and she's being carried around all over the place.

I remember being carried around like that...thank God for God!!! hee hee

click the link below and you can see my girl, Lakshmi, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed and minus 4 limbs! Her legs are in casts, but her arms are free.

check out Lakshmi & fam

*Update 11.09.07* Lakshmi is breathing on her own!

This little girl has stolen a piece of my heart! source

My girl, Lakshmi is breathing on her own! She just had major surgery 56 hours ago. For those of you who were either locked up, or just crawled from under a rock...Lakshmi is a 2 yr old girl from India who was born with 4 legs, and 4 arms. Lakshmi literally absorbed her twin's body.

This little girl underwent 24+ hrs of surgery, so that she may live life on two legs instead of 4.

I must admit, this baby has captivated not only my heart but also those worldwide.

It also makes you humble.

When I thought of how selfish my thoughts were (supervisor, coworkers, kids, bills, life etc) and then I looked at Lakshmi's pic...a child with 8 limbs, who's smiling.

That pic (above) brought me down a peg or two...how can i complain about my life???

What nerve.

You'd never know Lakshmi had physical issues looking at the pic above.

How is it that she can smile, considering her physical limitations?

This baby has been showered with unconditional love, and protected...just as Father does us.

It's amazing that this beautiful baby who lives so far from me, has managed to bring me closer to Christ.

*UPDATE 11.09.07* Lakshmi

Fam for those who are following Lakshi, formerly known as "girl with 8 limbs" here's an update for you with great pics: click here

*UPDATE II* LAKSHMI'S SURGERY!

Successful surgery for Indian girl born with 4 arms, 4 legs
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BANGALORE, India -- Doctors in southern India completed a grueling 24-hour operation today on a girl born with four arms and four legs that surgeons said will give the 2-year-old a chance at a normal life.
view video of Lakshmi

The surgery went "wonderfully well," said Dr. Sharan Patil, who led a team of more than 30 surgeons in performing the marathon procedure to remove Lakshmi's extra limbs, salvage her organs and rebuild her pelvis area.

"This girl can now lead as good a life as anyone else," Patil said from a hospital in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

Lakshmi, who has been revered by some in her village as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess, was born joined at the pelvis to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.

"This is a very rare occurrence," said Dr. Doug Miniati a pediatric surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the surgery. Miniati said the surgery was extremely complicated but her chances of survival were greater because she was not joined at the heart or brain.

The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs. By midnight, a team of neurologists had separated the fused spines while orthopedic surgeons removed most of the "parasite," carefully identifying which organs and internal structures belonged to the girl, said Patil.

Then began the difficult job of reconstructing Lakshmi's lower body.
The operation included transplanting a good kidney into Lakshmi from the twin. The team also used tissue from the twin to help rebuild the pelvic area, one of the most complicated parts of the surgery, Patil said.

"Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well," Patil said. "We were able to bring the pelvic bones together successfully, which takes away the need for another procedure," he said.

However, she will have to have further treatments and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she would be able to walk, he said.
Lakshmi's parents, who were expected to see their daughter later Wednesday, said they were very relieved.

"It will be great to see our daughter have a normal body," her father Shambhu, who only goes by one name, told reporters. "We were worried for her future."

Children born with deformities in deeply traditional rural parts of India, like the remote village in the northern state of Bihar that Lakshmi hails from, are often viewed as reincarnated gods. The young girl is no different -- she is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth.
Others sought to make money from Lakshmi. Her parents kept her in hiding after a circus apparently tried to buy the girl, they said.

Her mother, who is currently pregnant with a healthy fetus, was "overwhelmed," Patil said.
Doctors at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore said they were performing the surgery, which they estimated cost $625,000, for free because the girl's family could not afford the medical bills.
"We are very grateful to all the doctors for seeing our plight and deciding to help us," Shambhu said.

Doctors at the hospital have said that Lakshmi was popular among staff and patients.
"She's a very cute girl," hospital spokeswoman Dr. Patil Mamatha said. "She's very playful and gets along well with others."

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I am so happy at the outcome of this surgery.

This was definitely one for the books--I can't wait to see Lakshmi's progress as she gets older. Cool.

*UPDATE* Lakshmi, baby with 8 limbs

An Incredible Story

As of 8pm, November 6th, Dr. Patil a surgeon assigned to Lakshmi has reported that the parasitic twin inside of Lakshmi has been removed, and the surgery is "going well." It is also reported that Lakshmi's pelvic bone has been put together, by Dr. Patil. Lakshmi was 1/2 of conjoined twins. Her twin stopped developing in utero and Lakshmi in turn absorbed her twin's body.

It is expected that Lakshmi will walk and live a "normal" productive life in society.
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Lakshmi, 2-year old from India born with 8 (EIGHT) limbs in surgery

Lakshmi-litle girl born with 8 limbs (scroll down to see pics)

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I've heard of medical phenomenons, and i've seen parasitic twins. Remember the Egyptian baby who had her twin's head adjoined to hers? Her and her mother appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show.

Well, what can only be described as absolutely incredible, is little 2-year old Lakshmi of India. Lakshmi is carrying her parasitic twin-a different way.

At the bottom of her trunk is a pair of legs, a pair of arms and a partial torso.

You can even see where Lakshmi's twin head is supposed to be.

This beautiful little girl has no idea that her name will be in the history books.

Today, with a team of 30 doctors, Lakshmi's life will change forever as doctors are working feverishly to separate her from her twin.

In addition to having had two fused spines separated, Lakshmi also has she has four kidneys, entangled nerves, two stomach cavities and two chest cavities. She cannot stand up or walk. source

Unlike in America, where children with deformities are teased, ridiculed & shunned, Lakshmi is revered. Revered so much so, that she was named after a goddess of wealth.

Here's to good health for Lakshmi, and I pray that she will be able to walk, run and play to her heart's content.