Almost one month has passed since the complex surgery took place (February 23-24) to separate Costa Rican siamese twins Ezequiel and Samuel, the brothers remain in the National Children’s Hospital, Ezequiel in after-care while Samuel still hasn’t been able to leave the ICU.

“Their evolution is slow, tough and complex”, stated Olga Arguedas, director of the National Children’s Hospital regarding the state of the two year old brothers of last names Nuñez Badilla who were were conjoined by the top of their heads.

According to Arguedas, Samuel remains in ICU and still requires the assistance of a ventilator to breath, he has also had problems tolerating food and therefore he is receiving intravenous nutritional support.

Ezequiel, who has remained the most stable, is receiving antibiotics to treat an infection.

Both children are receiving physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Ezequiel and Samuel didn’t share brain or cerebellum but did share veins, arteries and corpus callosum (the part of the mind that allows communication between the two hemispheres of the brain). The characteristics of the procedure made this one of the most complex surgeries done in the National Children’s Hospital and required the assistance of 20 specialists and over 18 hours of work.