It's been almost too much to bear for his parents, Biresh and Indu Devi Paswan, who live in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India. Deepak was born with his parasitic twin and his parents say he has been gawked at and teased for his rare condition.
On December 8 at 10 p.m., TLC will premiere "The 8-Limbed Boy," which follows Deepak's incredible journey to have his parasitic twin removed. Dr. Ramcharan Thiagarajan, known to many as "Dr. Ram," a gastrointestinal surgeon in Bangalore, a developed city nearly 1,000 miles away from Deepak's home, thinks he can successfully perform the risky surgery and forever serperate Deepak from the parasitic twin he was born with.
James E. Stein, MD, a conjoined twin specialist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles who has not treated Deepak but has performed surgery on another boy with the same condition, explains that the parasitic twin is unable to survive without the host, but that the host can very well survive withouth the presence of the twin. "It's about having a good grasp of the anatomy, and knowing what needs to be removed. It's all in the preparation," he told AOL Health. "Usually babies and children who have a parasitic twin removed can grow up to be healthy adults," he said. A parasitic twin poses a threat when there is too much stress placed on shared organs, or when cysts develop and become infected.
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