Nima and Dawa Pelden, the Bhutanese conjoined twins who successfully underwent a separation surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne, Australia on November 9 are healing well.

A pediatric surgeon with JDWNRH, Dr Karma Sherub, who was in Melbourne to observe the surgery earlier this month, said the girls were doing well. “The wounds have healed. They started to eat again two days after the surgery.”

Dr Karma Sherub said he was informed by his contacts at the Children First Foundation that the girls would be discharged from the hospital today.

The foundation funded the expense for surgery and flights of the girls, their mother and the nurse who escorted them to Australia.

After discharging from the RCH, Dr Karma Sherub said the girls and their mother would return to the foundation’s Miracle Smiles Retreat in Kilmore where they would receive further treatment and nutritional support.

“The girls would receive physiotherapy for about a month,” he said. “Their lower abdomen and leg muscles are not fully developed because they have not been used.”

The doctors would work on making them become independent, have them move and get better strength with muscles, he said. “The doctors at the hospital said that after a month, they will let us know about the future plans.”

According to foreign media, even after the separation surgery, Nima and Dawa, still want to be close. “They were reaching out for each other, putting their legs across each other as they did when they were joined,” it states.

The 15-month-old sisters and their mother Bumchu Zangmo arrived in Australia last month for the separation surgery.

Dechen Tshomo 

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