8:24
- ABC News
- October 12, 2017
Life now for separated conjoined twin sisters
Eva and Erika Sandoval have spent most of their young lives in hospitals.
8:24
In the weeks that followed, Erika, the once smaller twin, thrived, making tremendous progress in physical therapy, but recovery was a bigger challenge for Eva.
Through all of this, Aida was mostly parenting solo as Art, who had to keep working full-time to cover the medical bills, drove the three hours from their home in Sacramento to the hospital in Palo Alto every weekend to visit her and the twins.
![\"Formerly](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/ht_twinspro1_le_170925_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Finally, three months after their separation surgery, the twins were allowed to go home. Under the care of their local hospital, Eva and Erika continued to go to physical therapy and were fitted for wheelchairs. At home, the family settled into a new routine, with Aida being able to walk outside with a stroller built for two for the first time.
The best part of this whole journey, Aida said, was “finally bringing them home and being a family.”
“We’ll still say, ‘Dr. Hartman and his team performed magic,’” she continued. “Eva will see her scar and she goes, ‘My sister was right here.’ And I said, ‘Yes, your sister was right there.’”
![\"Formerly](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/ht_twinspro2_le_170925.jpg_4x3t_384.jpg\")
The girls made amazing progress, surpassing all expectations, but they still have more challenges ahead. They have been on feeding tubes since birth and are just now getting used to eating solid foods.
But they are embracing their independence as typical toddlers, full of curiosity and mischief.
“The worst part is over,” Aida said. “We’re here. We’re done … when you think about it or when you talk about it, those emotions do come back. But right now, it’s just looking forward, looking to the future … and they are vivacious, they are just -- they’re spunky little girls.”
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