The last few days have been particularly stressful for Eman Ahmed to deal with. Doctors and nurses in Saifee hospital say it is evident that the former heaviest woman in the world is currently scared and uneasy as she can sense the tension between her sister Shaimaa and the hospital staff. On April 14, Shaimaa posted a video on various social media platforms where she called Dr Muffazal Lakdawala a liar as she refused to believe her sister lost 324 kilos in a span of two and a half months.
She also raised concerns over how her sister’s condition was still poor as she suffers from breathlessness and continues to eat from a feeding tube. After the video went viral in the UAE and India, 12 out of the 13 doctors treating the Egyptian national resigned from taking care of her. The drama escalated when Saifee hospital called the police on Thursday evening after Shaimaa allegedly gave water to Eman to sip, without informing the doctors. The doctors fumed about how they had advised Shaimaa against giving Eman water or food orally.
Police officials from VP Road police station were called and informed that Shaimaa was risking her sister’s life and a complaint was filed against her. Shaimaa was quick to defend herself and said Dr Lakdawala had fed some chocolate to Eman only a few days before the incident took place. The animosity between Shaimaa and the doctors was still evident on Saturday when BJP’s spokesperson, Shain NC visited Eman.
During a press conference in the hospital, a video was released by Shain NC shows her and Dr Lakdawala talking to Shaimaa in Eman’s room. In the video, Dr Lakdawala explains how there was a misunderstanding between them which led to the highly publicised spat as Shaimaa thought she was going to be chucked out of the hospital after doctors declared Eman was fit to be discharged.
Soon after, she reached out to doctors in Burjeel hospital, Abu Dhabi, who had previously offered to treat Eman for a period of one year pro bono. However, Shaimaa says she decided to come to Mumbai after Dr Lakdawala assured her Saifee hospital has far better facilities.
“In the two months or so Eman has been admitted in Saifee hospital, she has had many medical emergencies and she is still using a feeding tube,” complained Shaimaa in the video. THE WEEK had first reported how Eman had suffered from seizures continuously only five days after she arrived in Mumbai. In order to stabilise her condition and stop the seizures, doctors had to give her high doses of anesthetic drugs. Other than that, Eman also suffered from aspiration and severe risk of infection after doctors tried to feed her orally post her sleeve gastrectomy surgery on March 7.
As of now, Shaimaa says none of the hospital staff members are talking to her and she is still unaware about when they will leave for Burjeel hospital. “In the last 10 days, Eman has been crying sometimes and she seems very tense and anxious. She has been having mood swings as well and we are sad to say after bonding so closely with both the sisters, now the atmosphere in the room is always tensed,” says Belinda Sawant, a nurse who has been treating Eman since the last two and a half months.
While Eman was undergoing speech therapy and physiotherapy to strengthen her throat muscles so she can swallow food and start talking, she has been unable to do her exercises or focus on physiotherapy due to all the stress. Dr Hemal Shah, the treating nephrologist, says, “If Shaimaa had not created all this controversy, Eman’s condition would have been far better today. It will take quite sometime for her to be able to eat without a feeding tube and it helps in preventing any risk of pneumonia as food or water won’t enter her windpipe.”
“Eman has definitely lost motivation in the last 10 days and has not been able to focus on physiotherapy anymore, which is unfortunate. If Shaimaa had approached us directly and told us they were not ready to go back to Alexandria instead of threatening us, we would have rented a flat nearby and continued with Eman’s physiotherapy,” adds Dr Shah. On Saturday, Dr Lakdawala and Shaina NC met with the chief minister to discuss Eman's case.
Doctors at the hospital are currently waiting to hear back from Burjeel hospital to know when Eman will be transported to Abu Dhabi. They have already prepared her discharge summary which includes tests she will require six months down the line. Speaking to THE WEEK, Dr Lakdawala says, “I did everything I could do for Eman and I will always be in touch with her even after she leaves for Abu Dhabi. We are not discharging her from the hospital but accepting her transfer request.”
Meanwhile, doctors from Burjeel hospital announced that Eman will undergo a gastric bypass surgery which involves dividing the upper stomach in a small pouch to reduce the amount of food absorption. Dr Aparna Bhasker, a bariatric surgeon at Saifee hospital who was treating Eman criticised this decision. “Whether Eman needs another surgery or not is something that can be determined only one year later. Under our care, we are proud to say Eman was able to speak four full sentences a few days back during one of her speech therapy sessions. Before this, she was barely able to speak a few words due to the damage caused by the stroke three years ago.”
As of now, Shaimaa has been informed by Sanet Meyer, director of VPS Healthcare Medevac division that the first phase of their ground logistics includes transporting Eman from Saifee hospital to the airport and then from Abu Dhabi airport till Burkeel hospital for which they will need a specialised stretcher.
