Sunday, July 11, 2004 With Pinay nurses, Manzos found home, away from home By Aledel Gonzalez-Cuizon
CEBU CITY -- It was her first time to leave the country with her conjoined twins for a completely strange land, but Carina Manzo was never really far from home.
In the six months that she and her twins Princess Ann and Princess Mae stayed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Carina and her sister Jocelyn Cabradilla made friends with the Filipina nurses who worked in the hospital where the twins were separated through surgery.
In an interview with Sun.Star, Carina said the Filipina nurses gave her a crash course on local customs such as the appropriate outfit in going to public places.
Carina and her sister often went out with the nurses to the mall. The nurses also served as interpreters for doctors.
Many Pinays
Carina showed pictures of her wearing an abaya, an outfit consisting of a black robe and a large cloth that serves as a head cover.
"It wasn't hard to adjust because there were many Filipinas there," she said.
She felt welcome and the people in the hospital were kind.
Carina and her sister arrived in Riyadh with the twins in January after getting persistent calls from specialists who offered to perform the surgical procedure to separate the twins.
Princess Ann and Princess Mae had been joined in the lower abdomen and pelvis when they were born last Nov. 12.
Crown Prince Ab-dullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia shouldered the travel, accommodation, medical and related expenses to separate the babies.
The day they arrived in Riyadh, they were immediately given special treatment at the airport as many people waited for them there. They were brought to the hospital where they entered a gate that was for VIPs only.
Another home
Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, who led the surgical team that separated the twins, welcomed them.
Carina, her sister and the twins were provided with a house just a few minutes' walk from the hospital.
Carina described Al Rabeeah as a very kind person.
Al Rabeeah even invited her to bring the twins to his house, making them the only ones from among the other former conjoined twins he separated to be accorded the honor.
Al Rabeeah is chief executive officer and consultant on pediatric surgery of King Fahad National Guard Hospital, King Abdulaziz Medical City-Riyadh.
The hospital is known for its successful operations on conjoined twins.
The Manzos were set to come home last July 4 but the papers were not processed yet.
When they arrived last Wednesday, Carina was told that they would meet President Arroyo but she thought the President would be at the airport.
She was surprised when they were whisked off to Malacaņang, where President Arroyo talked to them in Cebuano.
Carina was even more surprised when she found out later in the hotel that one of her bags was missing.
She recalled that she had registered the bag in the airport in Riyadh but she never saw it again.
The bag contained their clothes, pictures of the twins, documents and a jewelry gift set from one of the doctors in Riyadh.
Carina already asked the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to look into the missing items.
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