The Muslim Filipino community and the Filipinos-at-large are rejoicing for the most awaited and heartfelt successful separation operation of 1-year-and-6-months old Filipino Conjoined Twins Akhizah and Ayeesha Yusoph.
Their grandmother, Norely, happily extend this happy moment via Facebook messenger chat. And later on confirmed by Philippine Embassy to Saudi Arabia Consul Rommel Romato, whom his office had been assisting the family of the twins since they arrived in the kingdom. He also shared a glimpse of the intense operation which they were watching over a big screen with the Yusophs and authorities.
The head of the medical and surgical team, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, confirmed that the condition of the twins was stable after the 5-stage operation with the participation of 23 doctors and nursing and technical staff in a span of 5-hour surgical procedure at the King Abdullah Specialized Children Hospital in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh.
Pre-operation examinations revealed that the twins were joined at the lower chest and abdomen and they shared liver and possibly intestines, but each of them had separate upper and lower limbs.
Hashima Yusoph, mother of the twins, extends her gratefulness to all the medical staff who keeps an eye to the twins. She even reported happily that the twins gets bigger and healthier each day because of the overflowing milk and food supplies which the kids love.
The Embassy of the Saudi Arabia to the Philippines Communications officer Hameed Alshammari shared photos of the precious moment of the twins and was very grateful too for the turn out of the operation.
The said successful separation operation is the second time the Saudi government is doing it on a Filipino conjoined twins, while it was the 61st in a series of operations to separate conjoined twins performed in Saudi Arabia. The medical team had evaluated a total of 136 cases from 26 countries in the past 33 years.
For now, the twins are in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for further monitoring and are expected to still be in the kingdom for a couple of months until the twins are fine including further treatments and therapies.
It was May 5, 2024 when the twins arrived in Saudi Arabia for the operation under the mercy and directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. | by Princess Habiba Sarip-Paudac
