Surgery’s Surviving Twin Goes Home

A 2-month-old boy who survived a dangerous fetal condition and an operation in which his twin brother was removed from the womb left a Northridge hospital Friday amid fanfare fit for a prince.

Swaddled in blankets and cradled in the arms of his mother, 4-pound, 9-ounce David Moller gazed silently on the swarm of reporters and cameramen that followed the family out to a waiting limousine.

His father, Randy Moller, described how his son survived a condition that normally kills any set of twins in which it develops. “I don’t know whether he just decided of his own will he was going to make it or whether God gave him the will,” Moller said. “But he never turned back. He just kept getting stronger.”

Trailing bunches of balloons, the Valencia couple’s daughters, Amanda, 2, and Diana, 6, paraded beside their mother and brother, who were wheeled from the maternity ward at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in a wheelchair that was more ceremonial than functional.

Patricia Moller, 30, said she has been feeling fine since she left the hospital five days after David was born on Aug. 6.

Both Twins Stricken

In the sixth month of Moller’s pregnancy, her physician, Dr. Khalil Tabsh, discovered that the twins she was carrying were both in danger of dying from a rare condition called twin-to-twin transfusion. Blood and fluids were being pumped from one fetus into the other through an abnormal connection between their circulatory systems.

Brother Named ‘Daniel’

One twin, given the name Daniel by his parents, was delivered on July 25 because he was continually losing fluids to his brother and was being compressed in the womb as his brother swelled, said Ann Bethel, a hospital spokeswoman. Daniel died of extreme prematurity and lung failure 36 hours after being born.

The premature delivery of only one twin from a set was an unprecedented procedure, Tabsh said.

No Chance of Survival

He said at the time that, even though it was risky to remove Daniel at such an early stage of development, there was no chance that he would have survived had he remained in the womb. David probably would have died as well, from the effects of excess fluid that had been pumped into his body through the connection to his brother’s circulatory system, dangerously overloading his heart and tissues.

David was delivered by Caesarean section two weeks after the initial operation.

David’s weight now is just a few ounces more than his weight at birth two months ago, Bethel said. But, at that time, two pounds of his weight was excess fluid.

All traces of swelling are gone now, Bethel said.

David’s mother said her doctors have told her she can expect a normal son in every way. “I’m sure he’s going to play in the mud just like any other,” she said.