They were born with their heads fused together, but more than two years after being separated at the Singapore General Hospital, the Nepalese twins Ganga and Jamuna Shrestha can neither walk, nor talk, nor do many of the things normal toddlers take for granted.
'Before the operation in April 2001 they seemed like normal children,' said their worried mother Sandhya Shrestha. 'But it's different now, and we're anxiously awaiting word from Singapore about their further treatment.'
On May 9 the two girls celebrated their third birthday. But Ganga remains confined to her pram - she cannot sit up or utter a single word, sleeps most of the time, and has problems with her bladder and bowel movements.
Jamuna is the brighter of the two girls, but even she utters just a couple of words at a time, and cannot stand or walk, but instead pivots her frail body on her arms to move like a paraplegic.
'Ganga's brain was infected during surgery, that's why she is retarded and will never be fully functional, she will always need special care,' said Basant Pant, the neurosurgeon on the Nepali medical team who has been monitoring the twins since their return from Singapore. 'Jamuna, though, should be able to eventually lead a normal life, and even go to school.'
'But both need further surgery,' he added. 'Ganga's brain is too large for her head, so her skull needs to be reconstructed to relieve the pressure. Jamuna's skull has a bone defect, so she needs surgery too, besides cranoplasty to improve the shape of her head.'