By Salma Khalik
Medical Correspondent
salma@sph.com.sg

 

SEVEN years after she was separated from her conjoined sister Ganga, Nepali twin Jamuna still catches at the heartstrings of people here.

Jamuna is now the proud owner of three teddy bears, lots of books and many toys - all gifts from well-wishers here.

Since her return in September, she has made new friends - including many who have come forward to help offset the cost of her stay here.

Some have paid for her air ticket, others have helped with the $1,000 a month rental of a room at a hostel close to East Shore Hospital where she is being treated. East Shore Hospital, is also helping out, providing mother and daughter with free meals when Jamuna is there for her daily physiotherapy.

But old friends, have not forgotten her either.

Some, including the many nurses who looked after her and her former conjoined sister during their first trip here in 2000, have been visiting the little girl and her mother.

This has meant a lot to her mother Madam Sandhya Shrestha, who is here alone with Jamuna.

It was too costly to bring more members of her family over, so Madam Sandhya has been coping alone with her daughter whose weak right arm and leg makes it impossible for her to stand or go to the toilet without help.

In the couple of days prior to her latest operation, many turned up at her hospital room to wish her well.

Salma Khalik (right) shows Jamuna photos that were
taken when ST visited her in Kathmandu during August.
ST Photo: Lim Wui Liang

One man came to East Shore Hospital to visit her was so emotional that he couldn’t help crying at the amount of pain the little girl has suffered.

On the day of her surgery on Wednesday, Raul and Tashii Gurung, two Singaporean children of Nepali descent, who have become fast friends with Jamuna, spent the morning playing with her on Wednesday, keeping her mind off the surgery she would be facing that afternoon.

Their mother, Mrs Alawiyah Gurung, who brought eight-year-old Jamuna back this time said summed up the scene in Jamuna’s hospital room describing it as a “boot camp”.

There were more visitors than the sofa, two arm chairs and the bed could accommodate, so some ot the visitors ended up sitting on the floor.

But no one minded.

In the long hours of waiting after Jamuna was wheeled into the operating theatre, they filled in the time by reading, playing Sudoku or electronic games. Except for four-year-old Tashii, who fell asleep after the excitement of the morning.

Around 7pm, five hours after Jamuna had been wheeled into the operating theatre, the high spirits were replaced by niggles of worry. Every now and then, someone would say “I’m sure it’s alright” or, if anything had gone wrong, it “surely would have happened early in the surgery.”

At 7:30 pm, the good news came: The operation had gone well and Jamuna was awake. 

A tension-releasing burst of laughter greeted the news that Jamuna’s first thoughts on waking up were about her dinner - because she had gone without lunch in preparation for the surgery.

Her cheer squad trooped up to the intensive care unit to peek through the glass window for a view.

It was even more emotional for Madam Sandhya, who had burst into tears at the good news and went to the bedside of her remaining daughter.

But amongst the euphoria at Jamuna’s sucessful surgery, the memory of Ganga was still fresh. 

She died in July – on a Tuesday - which was why Jamuna’s operation, originally scheduled for the day before, was pushed back one day to a Wednesday.