Egypt's Eman Ahmed, believed to be the world's heaviest woman, successfully underwent weight reduction surgery on Tuesday, doctors in India said.
The 36-year-old woman weighed 1,102 pounds before she traveled to India for her operation in February. But her doctor, Muffazal Lakdawala, told CNN that since Ahmed arrived at the Saifee Hospital in Mumbai last month, she had lost 220 pounds.
"She is very happy, she started dancing in her bed," Lakdawala told CNN on Thursday. "Her smile has come back."
Over the last few years, Ahmed had been confined to her bed after a stroke severely impaired her speech and mobility.
"Her parameters are all stabilized, kidney is much better, electrolytes are much better," he said, adding that they had a "window of safety" to perform the surgery — a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy,” Lakdawala said. "She has done well post-surgery; she's back in her room and taking liquids.”
Ahmed also had her gallbladder removed, "as it had stones and could have created trouble later," Lakdawala told the Times of India.
Lakdawala said if Ahmed responded well to the surgery, he hoped to take between 155 and 175 pounds off her weight before sending her home.
The next surgery will be next year, Lakdawala told CNN.
Ahmed had suffered from thyroid problems since she was a child, but it wasn't until her stroke that her weight topped 1,000 pounds, CNN reported.
Ahmed was initially refused a visa for India because of her inability to get to the embassy in person, until the process was expedited by India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Traditional planes and air ambulances couldn't accommodate a passenger of her size. So, in what Egypt Air claimed was an industry first, the airline adapted a cargo plane especially to transport Ahmed to India, the Times of India reported.
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