Chennai, Dec 1:
A 47-year-old pastor, weighing 220 kg, underwent bariatric surgery at a city hospital where he was shifted from the operation table by a battery-operated crane as he was too large for the stretchers.
Joshi Kumar Jetty, running an orphanage in Vijayawada, had been suffering from morbid obesity and was unable to walk. He also had co-morbid conditions like hypertension, asthma and oestoarthritis.
Coming to know about Amma Hospital on the Internet, he arrived here by an ambulance for the surgery. The hospital staff had to hire a battery-operated truck from Chennai Airport cargo section to take him to the ICCU, after he was found too big for the hospital's wheelchairs and stretchers.
A three-member team, headed by hospital director D Suresh, performed the 'sleeve resection' (reducing the size of the stomach) on November 20.
Suresh said shifting the patient from the operation theatre to the ward after the surgery was a challenging task. He was lifted along with the bed by a battery-operated crane and taken to the ward.
Jetty, who has already lost 10 kg, would be further able to shed weight as he is allowed only a little intake of food after the surgery, he said.
The pastor said he had neglected obesity as he was busy running the orphanage which had 86 children as inmates. (Agencies)
Published: Saturday, December 01, 2007
