Bangalore(IANS) : Two-year-old Lakshmi, who underwent a complex surgery to have her parasitic conjoined twin separated, Saturday recognised her parents and doctors, indicating that her sensory organs are functioning normally.
Said a doctor at the Sparsh Hospital here: “Lakshmi is cheerful and her condition is stable.”
“She was able to recognise her parents — Shambhu and Poonam — when they were allowed to meet her in the intensive care unit (ICU). She also waved to the doctors,” chief anaesthetist Yohannan John told IANS.
Lakshmi slept well after being taken off the ventilator Friday and woke up early Saturday, trying to move her arms and stretch her legs slowly.
“Though she is on liquid diet and is being fed intravenously, she is able to sip water orally. Her body is also responding to the drugs being administered to stabilise her condition and prevent any infection,” John said.
Lakshmi was born with a parasitic conjoined twin fused together at the pelvis and was admitted here Oct 3 after the parents were unable to get her treated in New Delhi due to financial constraints. Doctors there said they could not treat her.
Taking up the rare case as a challenge to paediatric surgery and medicine, Patil and his 30-member medico team offered to treat Lakshmi free. The procedure would have otherwise cost about Rs.3 million.
When Lakshmi cried late Friday for the first time after the surgery when her mother (Poonam) was leaving the ICU, doctors on duty heaved a sigh of relief — her wailing meant her sensory coordination was normal.
“Every movement or gesture of hers is a sign of progress for us. She is able to remain awake longer and is conscious of things in the ICU. She also responds with facial expressions to nurses,” John said.
Bio-chemical and blood tests reveal her vital parameters are within limits. She had a normal motion through her repositioned excretory opening. The toddler is also being injected with painkillers to give relief from the painful surgery.
“We intend to keep her in ICU for another couple of days to heal her wounds and to help her recover fully from the marathon surgery she underwent courageously. She is cooperating with the nurses and support staff when her body below the waist is dressed and her clothes are changed,” John said.
For the impoverished parents, who hail from a village in north Bihar, it was a Diwali with a difference.
Though Lakshmi was born on Diwali in October 2005, her parents celebrated this year’s festival of lights at the hospital to mark the successful operation with prayers for her speedy recovery.
“We are relieved and thankful to the doctors for giving a new life to our Lakshmi. Her mother is happy and hopeful that she will be able to walk and live a normal life,” father Shambhu told reporters at the hospital.
According to hospital chairman and chief orthopaedic surgeon Sharan Patil, Lakshmi will be put on a rehab and physiotherapy programme after she is shifted out of ICU next week.