NINE-month-old conjoined twins, Grace and Gift Mweemba, have defied the odds and are now on their way to separate lives after a successful operation at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka.
Their parents, Given Mweemba and Josephine Nsukumo, had faced immense challenges since the twins’ premature birth, including societal stigma and doubts about their daughters’ future.
About a year ago, an ultrasound scan during antenatal revealed that they twins would be conjoined.
And in September last year at seven months via caesarean section at Athur Davis Children’s Hospital in Ndola, the two sisters made their first sound and were transferred to UTH for medical observation and possible operation.
Their 22 year old mother, Nsukumo’s unwavering faith and the expertise of the UTH medical team turned things around for the family.
“It was very difficult to accept the situation when I was told about my children’s condition. People, including my own family advised me to leave them in government’s hands because there is no hope for them” she lamented.
“But I decided to trust in God and I maintained my faith that things will be okay one day.”
Upon their admission to UTH on October 23, 2023 at only a week old, medical personnel nursed the twins up to seven months as thorough medical assessments began.
The twins’ case was unique as they were conjoined at both the chest and abdomen, a first for Zambia.
Head of unit of pediatric surgery at UTH Dr Bruce Bvulani highlighted that the assessments revealed that the case of Grace and Gift was a unique one as they are the first set of twins to have both their chest and abdomen joined together.
“We have recorded about eight of conjoined cases in Zambia and in each case, the individuals would only be joined in the chest cavity or the abdomen but as for this case, the girls are joined in both, making it very peculiar” said Dr Bvulani.
On Tuesday June 11, 2024, at exactly 05:00 hours, a team of doctors, led by pediatric surgeon Dr Azad Patel, performed the eight-hour surgery to separate the twins and reconstruct their abdominal and chest walls.
Dr Patel highlighted the delicate procedure of separating the shared liver, which was successfully divided to ensure each twin has a fully functional half.
“In the stomach, they had separate intestines, urinary systems and genitalia. In the chest cavity what was combined was pretty much the outside, although they had separate hearts which were wrapped in one sack but we managed to separate them,” narrated Patel.
Meanwhile, Dr Christopher Chanda a consultant pediatric anesthesiologist confirms that after the successful operation three days later, the twins are stable and responding well to treatment.
Chanda said to ensure that they do not injure themselves through their movements, the twins have been put on temporary induced life support and they are feeding just fine.
“As for now we are happy with the progress they are making. Although we can not say exactly when we expect them to make full recovery, we anticipate that it will be soon with adequate medical attention” expressed Chanda.
27 year old Mweemba, the father to the girls, thanked the government and UTH for the help rendered to his children and his family.
“If it was not for the government who helped us even before the birth of my children, it would have been difficult for me.
“Things became more easy when UTH came in,” said Mweemba.
By Elesani Phiri
Kalemba June 14, 2024
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