A year on, home is still far for Jaga, Kalia

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New Delhi: Although a year has passed, home is still far away for the conjoined twins of Kandhamal, Jaga and Kalia, who were separated October 25, 2017 after a marathon 20-hour craniopagus surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here.
AIIMS doctors said the twins are recovering and that their survival chances are better now.
The doctors said that Jaga is behaving like a normal child. He is eating normally, roaming around and recognising people. He recently visited India Gate and had fun there. However, Kalia is improving slowly. His brain is not being developed as that of Jaga’s and he still needs nursing care.
A doctor on condition of anonymity said that usually in such cases the AIIMS administration discharges patients as there are many waiting for treatment. He also said that the kids are fine and that doctors are not giving them any treatment except nursing care.
The parents of the twins said they wanted to go home as they have two more kids to look after.
“It has been a year since we came here. We are happy to see the kids in this condition but we want to go home. Many times we have asked the authorities to discharge the kids, but they are refusing to do so. They said that we will be allowed to leave only after the state government’s approval,” said Bhuyan Kanhar, the father of the duo.
Speaking on future treatment, Dr Girija Rath said, “Cranioplasty surgery is still needed to protect the brain from external injuries. The kids don’t have normal skulls to protect their brain. As Jaga is roaming around, a helmet has been given to him to protect his brain from injuries.”
Rath added that Jaga has undergone five surgeries till now while Kalia has gone through eight. The kids were brought to the AIIMS July 14, 2017 from Milipada village in Kandhamal district.
The first phase of the surgery was conducted August 28 when the doctors created a venous bypass to separate the veins shared by the babies that returned blood to the heart from the brain.
The final separation of the twins was done by a team of 30 specialists from the institute’s neurosurgery, neuro-anaesthesia and plastic surgery departments October 25, 2017.
Doctors said this was India’s first craniopagus surgery to separate twins who were joined in their heads.