Eman's weight still a mystery as UAE doctors target rehab

Abu Dhabi - To make Eman sit up top priority, say doctors.

The controversy surrounding the treatment of the "heaviest woman on earth" does not seem to end, with Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi refusing to reveal her current weight. 
"Our priority is not her weight but her rehabilitation. We are trying to make her close to normal again through a detailed rehabilitation programme," Dr. Yassin El Shahat, Chief Medical Officer, Burjeel Hospital said at a press conference held in Abu Dhabi today.
Dr. El Shahat said though they have weighed her for medical assessment, "it is not important to talk about the weight. It is a controversy from East to West. But it is not our priority."
Egyptian Eman Abdul Atti's nearly-three month-long stay at Mumbai's Saifee hospital ended bitterly with her family accusing the Indian doctors of lying about her drastic weight loss from 500kg to 176kg in less than three months.
Happy days ahead for Eman: Doctors

After the dispute between Eman's family and Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, the bariatric surgeon who treated Eman, the family contacted Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi for help. She had spent 83 days at Saifee hospital before flying to the UAE capital on May 5. Eman was medically evacuated and airlifted on a cargo flight from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi for further treatment here.
Three months ago, on February 11, she was brought from her home in Alexandria to Mumbai, after Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim launched a Facebook campaign seeking help.
Brushing aside the weight loss controversy, Dr. El Shahat maintained making her sit up in a wheelchair is their goal. "Our first concern is to make her sit in a wheelchair. That is our short-term goal. According to her family, she has not sat up since she was 12." 
Dr. El Shahat, who is in charge of the team treating Eman, said that when they received her, Eman had pressing medical problems including fever, bed sores, acute urinary tract infection and cardiovascular complications including a condition causing leaking of the aortic valve. "We must resolve these issues before looking at long-term treatment," the doctor said.
Treatment of world's heaviest woman to take up to a year
 "We had a proper assessment done by a team of 20 doctors in the first 48 hours, including dieticians, speech therapists, cardiologists, nephrologists, urologists, orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, and physiotherapists."
Dr. El Shahat sais they are also planning to do a swallowing test on Eman and try to give her food orally. "She is not ready for oral feeding now. But we will assess her and start it under medical supervision." 
According to him, the patient also has contractions, for which she may need to undergo surgery at a later stage. "Our priority is to have short-term and long-term rehabilitation strategies for her, and how to get her communicate with the world around her.
"She arrived a very unhappy woman, disconnected from her surroundings, but she is now willing to communicate, and [this kind of mental wellbeing] is part of our short-term goal," Dr. El Shahat added.
anjana@khaleejtimes.com
Video: How Eman was transported to Burjeel Hospital
 

• Abu Dhabi