An Iraqi man weighing 301 kg underwent a surgery in Delhi to shed half his weight.
For years, Ali Saddam was on a diet regimen that included 24 eggs for breakfast, two chickens with 12 chapatis for lunch, and one goat for dinner, besides 2 litres of milk and 15 khaboos (Arabic flatbread).
He had come to put on so much weight that the local media once touted him as the Iraq’s heaviest man.
Members of his family said the 41-year-old used to fall asleep while sitting in the car, watching TV or even while talking. Over the past four years, Saddam had put on a lot of weight. Doctors at the city’s BLK Super Speciality Hospital said the weight gain was accompanied by a string of medical issues, including uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disorder. The surgery on him was performed early this week.
Speaking about the surgical challenges, Dr Deep Goel, Director of Laparoscopic Surgery, said: “Locating the abdomen during the operation was the most challenging, as Saddam had developed more than one foot of fat deposit around his belly. All his organs were densely covered with layers of fat.” He claimed Saddam would be able to lose almost half of his weight over the next 12 months.
“He has shed 20 kg within five days of the surgery, and we are hoping he will shed half his weight in the next 12 months to stabilise at around 152 kg,” said Goel.
The hospital administration had to make special bed arrangements in the ICU for the Iraqi man to lie down properly. “Generally, in such surgeries, the patient stays in the hospital is 2-3 days, but Ali had to stay here for a long time as hotels have denied him room because of his size”, said Dr Ravinder Vats, Bariatric Consultant at the hospital.
Saddam was put on a liquid diet before being operated upon. “It was done to make his fatty liver shrink to normal,” said Vats. Reflecting on his experience as a bulky man, he said: “My appetite increased day by day, and I maintained a sluggish lifestyle for years.”
DH News Service