No progress yet on conjoined twins

No progress yet on conjoined twins

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two weeks after their arrival at Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital in Central Jakarta, the father of conjoined twins Anggi
and Anjeli still has no idea when his daughters will undergo
separation surgery.

He explained on Monday that he had not yet met the team of 25
specialists who would oversee the operation.

The team is scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday to
reveal the results of their preliminary examination.

Anggi and Anjeli were born on Feb. 11 at the Gita Insani
Hospital in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, by caesarean
section. They are joined from the waist down, each has one leg
and they share a third. The twins, along with their parents, were
flown from their hometown in Kampung Baru Aman C, Sebelawan
district, Simalungun, North Sumatra, to Jakarta on Feb. 24.

Subari said that nurses at the hospital's Perinatology
section, where Anggi and Anjeli are patients, had prohibited him
from entering their room. He said that he waited outside the room
and the nurses only addressed him when they needed diapers.

The twins mother, Ning Harmain, is only allowed to enter when
her daughter need breast milk. Unfortunately, Ning is suffering
from a high fever at present and is unable to stay at the
hospital.

"Maybe she is too tired because she was at the hospital every
day to watch over our daughters," said Subari.

For the present, Subari, who is a getuk lindri (cassava
sweetmeat) seller, is staying at the residence of the regent of
Simalungun in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta.

He said that he was lucky to have received so many donations.

A large part of the funds was donated by the Simalungun
regent, who is a candidate for the Jakarta Regional
Representatives Council (DPD).

"Pak Iskandar came to see me in Medan and offered his help to
bring the twins to Jakarta for surgery," Subari said, referring
to Iskandar Sitorus, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Legal
Aid Foundation for Health (LBH Kesehatan).

"We are very lucky that the government has promised to finance
the surgery. We are not a rich family and this surgery is
expensive."

So far, the family's trip has been expense-free. Subari and
Ning only have to pay for the twins' diapers.

Even so, Subari misses his six-year-old daughter who remained
in Sumatra.

"Her Grandma is taking care of her. But as a parent, I worry
about her and look forward to going home," he said.

Head of the team of doctors for the conjoined twins at RSCM,
Arwin P. Akib, disclosed that the delicate surgery would be more
difficult than expected.

Although the twins have separate hearts, the heart of one of
the girls is on the right side. The girls have one kidney each
and separate digestive systems, but share a bowel.

The chance that both twins will survive surgery is slim.
Earlier, Ning had expressed hope that the operation would be a
success, while saying that in the worst-case scenario, she prayed
that at least one girl would live.

Anggi and Anjeli are the 14th case of conjoined twins recorded
in Indonesia since 1965. The first recorded case was in Surabaya
in 1978.