THESE are the conjoined twins thriving just seven months after undergoing life-threatening surgery to separate them.
Two-year-old Erika and Eva Sandoval, from Antelope, California, shared a digestive system, liver, bladder, a third leg and a uterus – with their bodies merging almost into one below the diaphragm.
Erika was nearly half the size of her sister, who doctors feared was absorbing most of the nutrients they consumed.
But after undergoing surgery on December 6 in Palo Alto, California, Eva weighs 20lbs and Erika 19lb 8oz.
Now with one leg each, the pair have learned to move around with wheelchairs – and doctors think they’ll be able to stand and walk using a crutch within a year.
Their third leg was used for Erika’s reconstructive surgery, and it’s not known if they’ll ever be able to use prosthetic legs because they lack some pelvic bones.
Meanwhile Eva has a large and small intestine and a colon, while Erika only has a small intestine.
The sisters still get most of their nutrition through feeding tubes, and have undergone play therapy to help them adapt psychologically to being separated.
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But since being discharged from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and completing rehabilitation, parents Aida and Arturo say life seems normal.
Mum Aida told the Sacramento Bee: “It’s a wonderful feeling, just to be able to make sure two more little babies get to adulthood.”
She added: “I’m definitely thankful that things turned out the way that they did.”I know they’re here with a purpose, they’ve made it this far. And what the future holds for them is just enormous.”
And their psychiatrist, Michelle Goldsmith, also confirmed the girls are coping well with the huge changes.
She said: “Neither girl seems to have trouble adjusting.
“They’re both rolling with what’s going on very well.”
Erika and Eva were operated on by a 50-surgeon team in December as doctors feared for Erika, who was becoming weaker and weaker.
The twins had been hospitalised repeatedly for urinary tract infections and dehydration before doctors decided to operate.
Earlier this month, we also reported on the incredible case of twins Honey and Singh, from Kandhamal, India.
The two-year-olds are joined at the top of the head, but have separate brains – a condition known as craniopagus.
And last month sisters Erin and Abby Delaney, from Philadelphia, were separated in a gruelling 11-hour operation.
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