Eman Ahmed, hailing from Alexandria in Egypt, is known as the world’s heaviest woman at 500 kgs. Despite being bedridden for the last 25 years, the 36-year-old woman finally has a reason to smile. On February 11, she arrived in Mumbai after a six hour long flight for her treatment in Saifee hospital. The entire journey cost around Rs 83 lakhs and the funds were raised through an online crowd funding initiative started by Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, bariatric surgeon and chairman of the Institute of Minimal Invasive Surgical Sciences at Saifee hospital, five months ago.
Eman was accompanied by her sister Shaimaa and a team of doctors, along with 300 kgs of medical equipment to ensure that she didn’t suffer from any complications during the journey. A specially designed 3G torque bed was arranged to ensure that it would be able to endure her weight during take-off. "The bed was required to not only withstand the weight of Eman, but also the additional pressure when the aircraft took off or landed. Otherwise, it could tear apart the entire aircraft," said Huzefa Shehabi, COO of Saifee hospital. The bed had been designed by NOSCO, a marine engineering company in Alexandria on a gratis basis.
Apart from this, a collapsible stretcher — that could carry a maximum weight of 2000 kgs — was made in India and sent to Egypt. Shehabi further added that an entire wall of Eman’s house had to be knocked down so that she could be evacuated with a crane.
“Since Eman lives in a government building, we had to get the required permission to knock down an entire wall of the living room. At 7 am, the cranes and other machinery arrived and helped her into the truck,” said Shehabi.
Dr Lakdawala said that they were mainly concerned about the huge risk of Eman suffering from an embolism during her journey. A pulmonary embolism is a condition where the patient’s arteries in the lungs become blocked by a blood clot. “For anyone who has been bedridden for 25 years, the biggest risk is an embolism. There could be blood clots in the leg and the patient could die instantly. That is why we had to be extremely careful while moving her,” said Dr Lakdawala.
Eman arrived safely in the city and was then transported to Saifee hospital by 6 am on Saturday. Doctors say her 1000 sq ft room was set up in the first floor of the hospital in a span of just three days. It contains a room for patient and attendants, a toilet and a scrub room along with a wide range of medical equipments, including an anaesthesia machine.
Eman can undergo first stage of bariatric surgery only after losing at least 70 kg: Doctors
Six months after Shaimaa wrote a letter to Dr Lakdawala requesting him to treat her sister, Eman’s treatment began with a liquid protein diet and passive physiotherapy. Her diet also includes fibre and dairy supplements. A team of dietitians at the hospital have removed all kinds of solid foods from her diet. As of now, Eman’s Body Mass Index (BMI) is 252 while a normal individual’s BMI is supposed to be no higher than 24.
Doctors say that due to her morbid obsesity, she also suffers from gout, obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes, hypertension and fluid retention or lymphedema. “Our main priority right now is to get rid of the fluid accumulated in her body. As of now, her skin feels like stone due to the fluid accumulation caused by her obesity. Once that comes down, we go ahead with her treatment. Through her new diet and physiotherapy, we are hoping she will be able to lose at least 70 kg to 100 kg in the next four weeks. Only after that can we go through the first stage of bariatric surgery,”says Dr Lakdawala.
Doctors say that, as of now, the road of Eman’s treatment was not clear as her condition was not stable enough to be put under anesthesia. A team of 13 medical experts are currently monitoring her and an all female team of caretakers are tending to her.
Eman has undergone gene testing as doctors say there are various genes implicated in obesity. “There are syndromic causes of obesity that might not respond as well to treatment, especially if it is monogenic obesity. If there is a single gene we can identify which is causing the entire issues, then we may have to rethink our line of treatment and go for more of medical management to control her obesity,” says Dr Shehla Shaikh, consultant endocrinologist at Saifee hospital.
Eman’s second phase of surgery will take place only after she is below 200 kgs and will involve an intestinal bypass surgery so that she will have reduced food absorption. Dr Lakdawala estimates that it will take at least two years before that is possible.
