Page 2 - Ahmed Cannot News Today

Machines, and generous financing would all combine to make sense of the impossible choice. but time and tests revealed an outlook which was even more complicated than anybody had imagined. >> this is an orchestration of the most complex surgical procedure that occurs on this earth. theres no question about that in my mind. >> these are the images that confront dr. salyer. a tangled confusion of blood vessels hes never seen before. major veins that originate in one twin, snaking their way deep in...

Their life to the fullest? and we believe that for the boys and their interaction with society, that it will be better for them to be apart. >> but swift and his team will not make the final decision. while the twins mother stays in egypt to look after the twins siblings, their father, ibrahim, flies to dallas. nothing will be done without his agreement. >> weve had a lot of communication with especially their father, who seems to understand very well what the risks are. >> hes kind of put it in...

The weak areas on their skulls. but overall, he is delighted with their progress. >> i think they are very happy children right now. mohamed is more outgoing because hes moving more and making a lot of noises. but ahmed is overcome with shyness. hes getting more and more social. >> to your left. the right foot. >> and the boys are making great strides with their physical therapy. >> good boy. >> this was ahmed when he got off the airplane in cairo. this is him two years later. >> go. go. go. >> ...

But all the doctors know that if theyre going to perform surgery it will most likely be soon. but dr. salyer knows that to accomplish this he needs to reach out and find an elite group of pediatric neurosurgeons. he does find them. but the question is can they help? >> initially it was quite daunting. it was very difficult to figure out the exact anatomy. >> dr. dale swift is one of the team that would attempt to come up with a surgical plan for ahmed and mohamed. swift and his colleagues conduc...

>> in may 2006 the twins have a very special visit. >> hows your english? >> good. >> is your english good? >> yes. >> dr. salyers visit to cairo is twofold. hell tour the facility run by dr. nasser and, of course, check up on mohamed and ahmed. >> its been a long time. >> okay. >> okay. >> you went over to egypt to see these boys. >> right. >> what was that like? >> it was a wonderful moment. we had an opportunity to see these boys, and they were happy. >> its still soft right here. i mean, it ...

And the surgery did leave signs of disability. >> push. good. >> mohamed does not have full use of his right hand. ahmed is unable to walk on his own. >> good boy. >> three times a week dr. samy nasseh volunteers his services, gives the twins physical therapy. >> good boy, ahmed. >> he believes ahmed will walk on his own but it will take a long time. >> and stand up. he needs the assistance of tool for him to stand and walk. but for five months, we think, i believe, that we can increase the assi...

Local doctors, woefully lacking knowledge or experience or equipment, think its best to transfer the twins, just five days old, 500 miles away to egypts capital, cairo. >> they were very vulnerable. so our first main goal was to just keep them alive. >> quite possibly the twins would not be alive today if it were not for this man. dr. nasser abdel al has spent a career building the biggest and most modern neonatal surgical unit in the middle east. but this, this case is an incredible first for n...

Weve gone from its doable, its not doable, theres -- we could do it and i can see how we can make it happen, and then all of a sudden we get new information and then its like i dont know how were going to make this happen. >> but for now mohamed the rascal and ahmed the philosopher are blissfully ignorant of all the weighty opinions around them, playing new games with their nurses. watched over by nasser, apparently in no danger at all, no closer to surgery. but a little closer to the man who wo...

But time and tests revealed an outlook which was even more complicated than anybody had imagined. >> this is an orchestration of the most complex surgical procedure that occurs on this earth. theres no question about that in my mind. >> these are the images that confront dr. salyer. a tangled confusion of blood vessels hes never seen before. major veins that originate in one twin, snaking their way deep into the other twins head. mohamed and ahmed are not only stuck firmly together, they depend ...

Should they? is it really the right thing to do? >> we are dealing with something unprecedented. >> in the fall of 2002, the doctors and family decide it is the right thing to do, there will be an operation, they will do it. but now the task, and it is immense. in ahmed and mohameds case there is some good news. though the boys brains touch each other, they are apparently independent, and doctors believe they can be teased apart. however, exposing the brain can also lead to complications. >> in ...