Advertisement

Texas conjoined twin returns home after successful separation surgery from sister

A Texas family is celebrating a homecoming after their 5-month-old daughter was discharged from a hospital this week following successful separation surgery from her conjoined twin sister

JamieLynn Finley was discharged from a Fort Worth, Texas, hospital Tuesday  two months after undergoing successful separation surgery from her conjoined twin sister AmieLynn, according to a press release from the Cook Children's Medical Center

While JamieLynn is heading home, AmieLynn remains in the children's hospital NICU, the hospital reported, continuing to recover from a recent surgery.

Twins make history

In January, the sisters made history as the first conjoined twins to be surgically separated at the hospital, officials there reported. The girls were conjoined at the chest and shared a liver.

Their 11-hour surgery involved a team of 25 medical professionals including six surgeons.

JamieLynn Finley is heading home from Cook Children's NICU.
JamieLynn Finley is heading home from Cook Children's NICU.

Headed home

JamieLynn left the hospital in a car seat with her parents, Amanda and James Finley, and her three older siblings.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” the girls’ doctor, Mary Frances Lynch, M.D., a neonatologist at the hospital said.

AmieLynn is continuing to recover from a recent surgery that improved her chest incision and created more space for her heart, diaphragm and lungs.

“There were some moments that were scary,” the girls' father said.

'Public health crisis': Autism rates rise again, with 1 in 36 children diagnosed

Zebra escapes zoo: Videos show escaped zebra named Sero roaming streets of Seoul after breaking out of zoo

The twins will be away from each other until AmieLynn can head home - hopefully within a month or so, the hospital reported. Her sister has recovered so well since the separation surgery, she’s currently bouncing and babbling to anyone who will listen, hospital officials said.

She’s going home with a gastrostomy tube to help with her feeding and continued growth, but doctors said by all indications, she’s on her way to being a healthy child.

“We’re excited that we get to get her home,” their father said. “We’ll have some good bonding time, but at the same time, Amie is still up there so it’s kind of a double-edged sword. We’re happy Jamie is coming home, but they’re not going to be together for a bit.”

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Conjoined Fort Worth twin separated from sister, home after surgery