Eman Ahmed, an Egyptian declared the world’s fattest woman, was flown to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening to undergo treatment for severe obesity.
She had just been discharged from Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital after being admitted in February. When Ahmed started treatment, she weighed 489 kg or 1078 pounds. She is now weighing 170 kg or 374 pounds. Ahmed had not been able to step out of her house in over 20 years until she was taken out for treatment, forced by a stroke that left her partially paralyzed.
Eman Ahmed represents a case of paralyzing obesity
37-year-old Eman Ahmed was declared the world’s heaviest woman in October 2016. Later that year, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj offered his support through a widespread call for donations. After the stroke, Eman was unable to understand commands and speak comprehensibly.
On March 2017, doctors operated on her and reduced the size of her stomach, leaving it a third of its size, to reduce her food intake. Later they determined that her obesity is influenced by a genetic condition that cannot be treated with surgery.
“It took almost a month for me to form a team of doctors, chalk out a detailed plan for her treatment and then we decided to get her here. Every treatment plan, method was debated with great detail. Hence, we could reduce her weight from 498 kgs to 170 kgs,” stated Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital.
When it was time to fly to the United Arab Emirates, authorities had to create a green corridor to transport Eman Ahmed to Gate 5 of Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Her discharge from the hospital took longer than expected due to what seemed to be discrepancies in how authorities had to handle Eman to caregivers from Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi. The Maharashtra Health Minister had to intervene in the situation.
According to her doctor, the only cause for the delays was signing the appropriate paperwork, to which the health minister argued that the government needs to prepare and standardize protocols to handle people with similar cases of morbid obesity.
However, Eman’s sister insisted that she was not being treated right in Mumbai and that doctors had made “false claims” concerning her recovery, even when Saifee Hospital officials issued a statement claiming that Eman Ahmed was “stable, in good health and fit to fly.”
For Eman’s stay at the Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, the doors had to be widened by 8 inches to let her pass without trouble. Also, caregivers had to provide her with a special toilet that could support her weight once she can stand up on her own.
To treat her and transport her effectively, hospital officials will count with 9 specialists, 20 medical board experts, and almost $500,000 which has been gathered through donations. Ahmed is considered to be the second heaviest woman in history, compared to American Carol Yager who weighed 540 kg or 1,200 pounds. She attributed her weight gain to eating excessively to feel better after being sexually assaulted when she was younger. Yager died in 1994 at 34 years of age.
Source: Yahoo News!