[ad_1]
15-month-old Dawa sisters and Nima Pelden flew nearly 6,000 miles for the life-changing operation. They have been joined at the stomach.
Nurse coordinator Kellie Smith, who works on the twins' ward at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, told reporters Thursday that the pair are never far from another.
"We try and have a little bit apart," said Smith, according to CNN Affiliate Channel 7. "But they manage to get out of their hands and have their legacy intertwined."
The nurse added that ward staff first tried to put the twins in separate beds but they did not like that at all.
"They're in the one bed together and just happy playing with one another, and it's actually beautiful to see," added Smith.
"They like their mother close too." They're always looking for mom and she's never far away.
Girls have followed the path that we set out for them
Lead pediatric surgeon Joe Crameri said the girls were doing well six days after the operation.
"The girls have been following the path that we are out for," he said, CNN affiliate Channel 7 reported.
"Like any surgical pathway, there are a few bumps in the road, and there are a few bumps we're still smoothing out – but with all the resources we've got here at Children's Hospital … we're making good progress at the current time. "
Crameri added that the sisters were "getting back to a normal life."
"They're back to eating, and they're starting to move around and the areas that we're trying to get rid of are quite nicely."
The twins were born via cesarean section last year and are believed to be Bhutan's first conjoined twins. Elizabeth Lodge, CEO of the Melbourne-based Nonprofit Children First Foundation, which funded the operation said last month.
The girls' budget was estimated at $ 180,000 (250,000 Australian dollars), according to 9 News.
'Delightful to look after'
Nurse coordinator Smith said Nima and Dawa have been a delight to look after, and that their personalities have been shining through.
Megan Collins, another nurse on the ward, agreed that the pair were in good spirits.
"They're loving interacting with the nursing staff," Collins said.
"We're now blowing bubbles and doing high fives, they love it when we're watching the Wiggles – they'll do little dance with their hands and what-not," Channel 7 reported .
"It's really nice to see them separated." "They're still really happy about wanting to be close to one another."
Difficult surgery
Conjoined twins occur once every 200,000 live births, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. About 70% are female, and they are always identical twins.
Scientists believe that conjoined twins develop a single fertilizer that fails to separate completely as it divides.
They were previously commonly referred to as "Siamese twins," a name that originated with Eng and Chang Bunker, conjoined twins who were born in Siam (now Thailand) in 1811. Never separated, they lived to the age of 63 and appeared in traveling exhibitions. Chang and Eng both married and fathered a total of 21 children between them.
While surgery to separate complications in the abdomen and other parts of their body can be complicated.
Source link
