Conjoined twins doing well, say docs

DAVAO CITY – Doctors at the Davao Medical Center (DMC) here have ordered the discharge of conjoined twins Myka and Myla Praile a month after they underwent a surgical operation effectively separating them.

“The prognosis is very good. The twins have reacted positively to the operation and they have been coping well enough for them to be discharged and for them to recover at home,” said Dr. Michael Manalaysay, chief of the DMC’s pediatrics department.

The twins had suffered from omphalophagus, or being conjoined in the stomach, and had to undergo an emergency operation last Oct. 2 to separate them since an infection was starting to affect their system.

Manalaysay told The STAR that for more than a week now, the twins have started feeding on breast milk and at times, milk formula after being through with tube feeding.

Manalaysay said the twins have to be taken out of the hospital for them to recover in a more normal situation and not to catch other infections that might result from longer hospital stay.

The twins, born via caesarian section in a small private hospital in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, were brought to the DMC for further treatment and the necessary surgical intervention to correct their conjoined stomachs.

“Further operations will have to be done on the babies when their intestines are fully developed and we can already make them their individual anuses and get them out of colostomy,” Manalaysay said.

The twins’ father, Eugene, however, said they still had to settle their bills and other required documents yesterday before his babies could be released from the hospital.