Guatemalan twins return to UCLA, conditions remain uncertain

Formerly conjoined twins Maria de Jesus and Maria Teresa Quiej-Alvarez were flown back to UCLA on Thursday after suffering medical setbacks in Guatemala. The twins, who were once joined at the head, were taken to the Mattel Children’s Hospital, where they had been cared for after separation surgery in August 2002. Maria de Jesus was […]

Professor suggests basin as solution for polluted runoff

Rainstorms are the Pacific Ocean’s worst enemy ““ thousands of pounds of pollutants are washed into the Pacific Ocean when it rains in Los Angeles. The rainwater that falls from our rooftops and cars runs onto city streets and is eventually collected into stormdrains. The stormwater then finds its way to the ocean through a […]

Separated twin improves to “˜serious’ after surgery

Maria Teresa Quiej Alvarez, one of the formerly conjoined twins separated at UCLA last year, has been upgraded from critical to serious condition. She was moved out of the intensive care unit at the Hospital del Pilar in Guatemala City where she was being treated for E. Coli meningitis since April 15, according to Dr. […]

Operating-room allies always come in handy during surgery

If there was ever a medical dictionary of bad words, it would have to include the word “Surgery”. Last week, I found myself thinking constantly about the S-word. I was inside the operating room at the UCLA Medical Plaza, lying on an operating table, staring straight up at the ceiling, my left arm completely numb. […]