Dr Lakdawala clears the air on allegations made by Eman Ahmed's sister

Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, the heaviest woman recently got operated but now her sister is blaming the doctors that the operation had some loopholes. Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who is treating her, on Wednesday said “truth shall eventually prevail.”

Eman weighed around 500 kg when she was brought to Saifee Hospital in Mumbai for treatment in February.

“Truth shall eventually prevail. It’s like the sun u try and cover it as much as u want it will shine thru & burn your hands in the process (sic),” tweeted Dr Lakdawala, in a veiled reference to the claim made by Eman’s sister Shaimaa Selim.

Shaima has alleged that the doctors treating Eman have made “false claims” about her actual weight loss and “complete recovery” in a video released recently.

Dr Lakdawala also confirmed that Eman’s current weight is 171 kg and not 200 kg as per the claims made by her sister.

Dr Lakdawala on Wednesday tweeted: “Shaimaa Selim u killed humanity with 1 swell blow may only God help u when u realise what u have done I will continue 2 treat & pray 4 Eman.”

Meanwhile, the hospital authorities released the CT scan report of Eman this evening. Her CT scan procedure was pending for long as the scan machine can take the maximum weight up to 204 kg.

“Eman today finally fit into a CT scan machine, for the much awaited scan of her brain. No imaging has ever been done before either in Egypt or in India as her size did not allow her to fit onto the table and the gantry of the CT table,” mentioned an official communication released in Mumbai.

It further said the CT report suggests an old vascular insult in the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory of her brain. There is no appreciable area of fresh infarct or intracranial haemorrhage as reported by Dr Rajiv Mehta, chief consultant and head of Department of Imaging Sciences at Saifee Hospital.

Dr Arun Shah, head of department of neurology at Saifee and Reliance Hospitals and Eman’s neurologist said, “This CT scan proves that no fresh stroke has happened after her arrival at Saifee Hospital. The cause of her repeated seizures is due to scar epilepsy.”

“In terms of further management medications and neurological rehabilitation therapy will need to be continued as before,” the communication stated.

Earlier, addressing a press conference at Saifee Hospital in the afternoon, Dr Aparna Bhaskar, who is part of the team of specialists treating Eman, said her sister is criticising doctors because her family doesn’t want to get Eman discharged and wanted to extend her stay at the hospital in south Mumbai.

“I believe that Eman’s family does not want to take responsibility of her further treatment. And they probably do not want to take her back for a long time. I do not think they have confidence that Eman will get good care in Egypt.  Obviously, the treatment here is good. By hook or by crook, they (family) want to keep her here,” she said.

Eman has been treated by Dr Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11, 2017.

Dr Lakdawala had said on April 11 that Eman has so far lost 262 kgs during treatment.

Stung by Shaimaa’s claims, Dr Bhaskar Tuesday announced that she was withdrawing from the team treating the Egyptian.

When asked about Shaimaa’s claims that Eman was not fully recovered, Dr Bhaskar said, “I am her doctor and I am saying it on record that she is 75 per cent better than what she was.”

“She will never be able to walk because she has deformed legs. Otherwise, her kidney and liver parameters are fine. Her heart beats are fine,” Dr Bhaskar said.

Saifee Hospital Chief Operating Officer Huzaifa Shehabi said: “There must be some over-expectations (by Eman’s family). There is a language and culture barrier while communicating with Eman’s family. Her health is good and the decision to discharge her in a period less than six months was unanimously taken by the team of doctors treating her.”

“If we can perform her CT scan it means her weight is less than 204 kg. It also means that her sister’s claim that Eman’s current weight is more than 200 kg is misleading,” the COO said.

According to sources, the doctors had told Eman’s family that they would let them know about the future course of treatment after getting her CT scan report.

However, it is not known whether they had specified the exact date for Eman’s discharge from the hospital.

In March, Eman underwent her first bariatric surgery in which doctors reduced her stomach size by two-third. Her genetic tests show she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.