A rare surgery by doctors at the premier AIIMS has given a fresh lease of life to eight-month-old conjoined twins. Shaily and Shilpa were surgically separated at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in the Capital two months ago when they were six months old. They are both healthy and cheerful now.
The twins were born to lal Bhai, a daily wage labourer, and Shashikala in Aber village of Satna in Madhya Pradesh. They were brought to AIIMS on November 12 last year, nearly a month after their birth. For the poor parents, a surgery for their daughters was an impossible dream. However, MP from Satna, Ganesh Singh, stepped in and brought them to AIIMS.
Doctors took nearly five months to complete checkups on the girls and plan the surgery, which took place on May 29. The two are now fit and likely to be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. Doctors said the girls shared one vital organ, the liver, which was to their advantage.
“The girls were joined at chest, so our first concern was whether they shared the heart. Fortunately, they had separate hearts and other organs, but shared liver,” said Dr M Bajpai, professor of pediatric surgery at AIIMS.
The surgery took about eight hours, of which nearly four hours were taken to give anesthesia. Then the liver was separated and was covered in local body tissues. The chest and bone muscles were also separated and a reconstructive surgery was done.
“We are feeling blessed that our children are healthy,” said lal Bhai. “We were sad, we cried when they were born. We did not know why this happened. I did not know I was carrying twins. When we went for delivery to the Government hospital, we were asked to go to a private hospital,” said Shashikala.
Nandlal Choudhury, the uncle of the twin, narrated how they had to run from one hospital to another seeking treatment of the children. “After they were born, we noticed saw that twins were having a fused liver. We went to various hospitals in our State for their treatment but in vain. Even several private hospitals refused to take up the case; though they advised us to approach AIIMS,” Nandlal said, adding the faces of the duo turned blue at one point of time that scared all in the family.
“The children also suffered from respiratory problems and when we took them to a nearby district hospital, they suggested us to go to AIIMS for conducting the surgery,” he added.
However, the parents are now hopeful of a bright future for their girls. “We want to give them good opportunities in life, to educate them,” said the father. The doctors too said that the girls would now have a normal life. “They will have to come here for checkups for some years. They will have a normal life,” Bajpai added.