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Cherished separation dreams come true

Cherished separation dreams come true

Monday, December 10, 2012, 14:00 GMT+7

The dream of seeing their conjoined twins grow up as separate and healthy individuals has rung true for these hopeful parents.

There are moving stories behind these sets of conjoined twins which their parents, the twins themselves, and those involved will never forget.

The lucky conjoined twins

“I dreamed many times of my two little girls frolicking on the beach in front of our house, just like any other kid,” Nguyen Van Bang, father of separated conjoined twins Nguyen Phuong Ha and Nguyen Phuong Ninh recalled about his recurring dream during the time he was anxiously waiting at Hanoi’s Central Pediatrics Hospital for his daughters’ separation operation.

twin

Ha and Ninh in a recent family's file photo.

His dreams were realized 16 years ago when the hospital’s doctors successfully conducted a surgery to separate Ha and Ninh in July 1996.

On a Sunday in April 1996, from the corridor of Quang Ninh Hospital, Bang was elated to hear cries from the delivery room.

Having had a son before, he and his wife were exulted to learn that they were now parents to twin girls.

But his elation was soon shattered, as the wet nurse came out with a serious look on her face and told him that there was something wrong with his girls.

He was shocked to see his newborn daughters lying on their sides, facing each other and conjoined at their abdominal area.

The following day, the twins were sent to Hanoi’s Central Pediatrics Hospital.

He randomly named both of them Phuong, and later changed to Lan Phuong and Phuong Ly (which means separating the two Phuongs in Vietnamese).

Even now, Bang is still moved by the concern and care he received from many Hanoians during the time he was tending to his newborns in preparation for the coming separation surgery.

A relative gave him free accommodation while locals residing near the hospital often asked about the girls’ condition and helped him in one way or another.

This made him change his daughters’ names to Ha and Ninh, to remind them that while northern Quang Ninh province is their motherland, Hanoi is their second hometown.

Three months after being specially cared for by the doctors and nurses, in July 1996 Ha and Ninh underwent major surgery to give them separate bodies.

At first, the doctors believed that the girls shared a liver and, therefore, they expected to be able to save only one.

Anguished, Bang and his wife got ready for the worst news.

But a miracle happened when, two hours into the surgery, a doctor came out and told them that the girls had two separate livers and only shared some blood vessels.

This rekindled hope in Bang and his wife, whose hearts were then racing wildly with fear and anxiety.

After the 4-hour surgery, to Bang and his wife’s ecstasy, the doctors announced that the operation was a success.

“Fortunately, this case was not so complicated. The twins were only conjoined by the skin from their breastbone to navel, that is, they were only conjoined by soft tissue and muscles without sharing any organs,” Sai Gon Tiep Thi quoted Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem, head of the surgery team, as saying.

“That night I could sleep soundly for the first time since our daughters were born,” Bang recalled.

With Ha’s and Ninh’s conditions progressing well, one month later they were taken home to Ha Long City (which is home to Ha Long Bay, one of the world’s new natural wonders) in Quang Ninh province.

Their grandfather decided that Ha with a navel would be the elder and Ninh, who has no navel, would be the younger.

The identical twins look so much alike that their grandmother sometimes had to tell one from the other by checking which one has a navel.

The twins encountered their second major hurdle when they turned 2: their parents got divorced. Their mother has since walked out.

With Bang toiling hard to provide for his three children, the family faced countless financial difficulties.

But Bang has been hugely consoled by seeing his three children, particularly Ha and Ninh, grow up healthy just like other kids.

Their most recent medical checkup indicated that their health is in good condition. Ha’s left kidney is in a lower position than normal, but it doesn’t adversely affect her kidney’s functions, Sai Gon Tiep Thi reported.

Though deprived of motherly love and care, the twins proved obedient, studious and independent from a tender age.

Saved daisies

In a yellowing notebook, the date when the parents of separated conjoined twins Thu Cuc and Thuy An were approached by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem, who later led the surgery to separate them, was carefully underlined in red ink.

twin

File photo of the family show Cuc and An before the surgery.

For Trinh Thi Binh, Cuc and An’s mother, this was a momentous milestone and a huge blessing for her twins.

With the newborn girls being intricately conjoined, the whole family despairingly thought that they would not pull through, Binh recalled.

Their grandmother named them Cuc (Daisy) and An (Saved), faintly hoping they would survive their first ordeal to be the two ‘saved daisies’.

Fortunately, while the 3-day-old girls were being taken care of at northern Thanh Hoa province’s General Hospital, their hopeless, anguished parents were unexpectedly approached by their would-be savior, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem, who learned of the girls’ condition by sheer chance.

After a careful examination, Dr. Liem gave the girls’ father a reassuring tap on the shoulder, saying: “Don’t worry, they will be all right.”

Glimmers of hope flared up inside them upon hearing these few words.

The doctors at Hanoi’s Central Pediatrics Hospital concluded that Cuc and An were conjoined at the abdominal area, breast and chest.

They also shared a liver, digestive system, heart membrane, atrium and diaphragm. Cuc was also diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

It would be an extremely complicated surgery, and the girls might not have enough skin to cover their abdomen cavity.

Therefore, plastic surgeons from 108 Military Hospital were summoned to perform skin expansion on the twins’ abdomens.

“Before the surgery, Dr. Liem told us that the chance of success was 50%. We might lose the weaker girl,” Binh emotionally recalled.

Binh was both hopeful and fearful about the coming surgery.

“I was both expectant of having my little girls separated and apprehensive of losing one or even worse, both of them,” she confided.

“The nearer the operation day came, the more restless I became. I couldn’t sleep in those days, whenever I closed my eyes, I dreamed of my girls losing their other arm,” she further recalled.

The surgery, which attracted much public attention at that time, took place in October 2003.

The surgery lasted till the evening and was performed by over 30 doctors.

Binh and her husband’s restless hours were finally over. They cried elatedly seeing their little girls lying on their backs in two cradles, holding the milk bottles with their own two hands, which they had only dreamed of before.

During the following years, the sickly Cuc and An had to be regularly hospitalized. An also underwent 4 other surgeries to have her abdominal skin expanded and intestine congestion treated.

Binh and her husband struggled to take care of their two girls with their meager workers’ incomes. Her husband also had to take several part-time jobs to cover treatment fees.

They also received much help from their relatives, colleagues and neighbors.

When Cuc and An were 2, one morning, a Korean couple who had also given birth to a set of conjoined twins visited the family.

Unfortunately their twins passed away not long after birth.

“I wish my twins were alive now so I could experience all of your hardship, worries and happiness,” the woman wistfully said to Binh before leaving.

Cuc and An, who are currently high-performing fifth-graders, have different personalities. Cuc is outgoing and vivacious while An is gentle and quiet.

But rarely do they walk together without holding hands.

Tuoi Tre

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