
Cook Children's
Formerly conjoined twin AmieLynn Finley went home on Friday, April 7 for the first time since she was born, to rejoin her twin sister JamieLynn, her parents, and the rest of her family.
This is a fitting finale to what many have considered a North Texas miracle. In January, JamieLynn and her sister AmieLynn made history as the first conjoined twins in Cook Children’s history to be successfully surgically separated. This was an especially difficult procedure since the girls were conjoined at the chest and shared a liver.
Their 11-hour surgery which would prove successful involved a team of 25 medical professionals, including six surgeons. The twins’ parents Amanda and James were all smiles as they placed AmieLynn in her own car seat for her first ride home. Her twin sister JamieLynn was already discharged from Cook Children’s on March 21.
AmieLynn, the quiet twin compared to feisty JamieLynn, has made huge progress even though her journey has been more difficult, a release from Cook Children’s stated. Amie stayed at the Cook Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to recover from recent surgery to improve her chest incision and create more space for her heart, diaphragm, and lungs.
“This is kind of the beginning again,” James Finley said as he cradled JamieLynn. “Surgery was one beginning and now we’re going home to another beginning.”
Both girls still have some work to do, including rehabilitation, to help them reach their full potential. When the twins were conjoined, AmieLynn developed scoliosis as a result of a natural inclination to lean back and pull away from JamieLynn. The girls’ care team hopes they will continue to grow up healthy, happy, and independent young ladies with their amazing family.
“It’s definitely a weight lifted,” Amanda said. “I’m excited and happy, it’s a lot of emotions. We still have a long way to go.”