Surgery in Washington D.C. Wednesday will separate conjoined twins from Wisconsin.
Dr. Robert Keating is chief of neurosurgery at D.C.'s Children's National Hospital. He'll lead the team of more than 65 surgeons, nurses and anesthesiologists who will separate Mateo and McHale Shaw. The boys, born in May to a Sheboygan couple, are joined at the lower back, an extremely rare firm of conjoining known pyopagus. Dr. Keating says that while Mateo and McHale will face a number of other health challenges, including spina bifida, they're confident that the lengthy surgery will be a success.
The boys' dad, Ryan Shaw, has been quoted as saying that the total costs of the surgery are expected to be in the neighborhood of five to six million dollars.
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