PETALING JAYA: Two months after their historic operation, it’s finally home sweet home for a pair of conjoined twins who were successfully separated in a surgery that made national news.
“I’m glad that I can hold them in my arms anytime I want now,” said Deborah Anne Vince, the mother of Daelan Hope Marshall and Daevyn Hope Marshall.
“Each time they cry or need something, I can immediately be there for them.”
The boys were discharged from Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh and returned to their Taiping home on Thursday.
They were just 17 days old when they underwent the operation at Hospital Tunku Azizah in Kuala Lumpur, led by paediatric surgery consultant specialist Datuk Dr Zakaria Zahari, on March 19.
The boys are the youngest ever conjoined twins in Malaysia to undergo such an operation.
(Apparently, such operations usually take place when the babies are at least three to six years old.)
“They are doing well and feed very often. They get hungry very fast,” said Deborah, 29.
The infants weighed a total of 2.7kg when they were first separated.
The older twin, Daelan Hope, now weighs 3.08kg while his younger brother Daevyn Hope weighs 2.9kg.
Deborah said she was thankful that she had her mother and aunties to help with the babies.
“When I feed one baby, the other baby cries,” she added.
She also said her seven-year-old daughter, Demetria Glory, was already playing the role of big sister.
The girl was attentive and eager to help whenever her brothers cried, added Deborah.
“She will ask me to bring her along when I go to the clinic for the twins’ check-up. She wants to help hold them,” she said.
To prepare for the twins’ homecoming, Deborah had to sterilise the house.
She said the doctor had advised her to keep the surroundings clean to help the twins’ wounds from the surgery heal properly.
“I was also told to constantly monitor them. In case of an emergency like if they suddenly could not breathe, I was taught how to perform CPR,” said Deborah.
She noted that Daevyn Hope still needed to have his wound dressed daily.
“Daelan’s wound is healing well,” she said, adding that the twins would need to go for their monthly check-up for vaccination, hearing inspection and physiotherapy.
Although Deborah now needs to return to work as a clinic assistant, she said she was often thinking of her twins.
“I’m glad that my sister and mother are there to look after them and that I can return home knowing that they’re safe,” she said.
Her husband David Marshall Kolenthes Nathan, 34, said having the twins back home meant that he could breathe easier.
“I am very happy and feel complete now that they’re home.
“I no longer have to worry about their condition now that they’re right in front of my eyes,” he said.
David, who works as an electrician, however, acknowledged that taking care of both babies was challenging as it was a new experience for him.