Separated Kabale Siamese twins doing fine

By Henry Mukasa

THE Siamese twins that were born in Kabale five months ago have successfully been separated, in an operation conducted by a team of doctors in Cairo, Egypt.

Trevor Bainomugisha and Timothy Bainomugisha were born on June 10 conjoined to parents Dennis Owomugisha and Rosette Tusiime in Kekubo, Kabale Municipality in Western Uganda.

“Yeah. For sure.The operation has been successful here in Wadi El Nil hospital in Cairo,” a relieved Owomugisha said on phone.

“They are breathing well in incubators in the intensive care unit,” he added.

The parents with the conjoined twins flew out of the country last weekend in the company of Dr John Ssekabira of Mulago national referral hospital. Five specialized professors with a support team of over 30 doctors and medical personnel conducted the operation on Saturday between 2pm and 5pm.

Kabale MP, Rhona Ninsiima said while she is happy that the operation was successful, she is now more concerned about the condition the babies will live in on return.

Already, she said, experts have advised that the babies will need to grow in an environment that is less risky and warned that it would be expensive.

“I am extremely grateful to all those who prayed and supported Tim and Trevor in their struggle to live. I am now appealing to embassies of countries willing to give them citizenship in a country where there are facilities to help them grow, now that they are delicate,” Ninsiima implored.

On arrival at Wadi El Nil hospital, the twins were subjected to numerous tests and scans which diagnosed that they shared a liver and a cartridge bone near the chest. They were separated without any transplants.

After the operation, Owomugisha narrated, the babies had started playing but they were put to sleep on strong painkillers so that they don’t feel the pain. A doctor is on standby monitoring them closely, full time.

“As parents, they allowed us to go see them and touch them. But their mother is not allowed to feed them yet,” Owomugisha explained, adding that they wear protective gear before making contact with them to prevent infecting them with any disease.   

Owomugisha saluted the Government for having good relations with Egypt, the Parliament for support, Ugandans for their prayers and Mulago hospital for the medication before they were flown to Cairo.

“We were received very well here in Cairo. Everything is being taken care of by the Government of Egypt,” Owomugisha observed.

He specifically saluted Uganda’s ambassador to Egypt for sending an emissary, Arthur Katsigazi to routinely check on them in hospital and Kabale MP Ninsiima for keeping a 24-hour check on their well-being.

“The message I send is a word of thanks,” Owomugisha said.

On her part, the mother Rosette hailed the media for highlighting the plight of their children and called for more prayers for the babies until they recover fully.

“We are still praying for the babies to recover fully and we return to Uganda,” Tusiime said.

Owomugisha and Tusiime requested for more monetary donations for upkeep and purchase of food, clothing and toiletries for their delicate babies. 

According to Dr Placid Mihayo, the Director of Kabale Regional Referral Hospital,Siamese twins are a result of failure by the identical twins to separate.

"The cause of such situations is the separation failure of identical twins that develop from the same ovum,” Dr Mihayo explained.

The chance of giving birth to conjoined twins is a rare and is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births.

Conjoined twins share a single chorion, placenta, and amniotic sac, although these characteristics are not exclusive to conjoined twins as there are some monozygotic. The survival rate is 25 per cent.