Surgery saves obese man

A man suffering from overweight and obesity was saved from a life-threatening condition, thanks to timely medical help. The 44-year-old, according to Dr. Manish Madnani, Consultant Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary and Bariatric Surgeon at the Bahrain Specialist Hospital, was in advanced stages of cancer and had a history of vomiting blood. 

The patient had a history of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and kidney issues and was dealing with a bleeding tumor in his stomach.   “When he came to us, he was getting blood in his stool – what is often referred to as black stool – which meant he was continuously losing blood,” said Dr. Madnani.

“So our first job was to tackle bleeding cancer through surgery.” “To gauge the severity of his condition, the patient underwent CT scan, blood investigations and PET scan (special scan for cancer spread). Results suggested that cancer had spread inside the abdomen along with his stomach. 

“All these, along with his existing chronic ailments made the surgery a very challenging procedure,” added Dr. Madnani “This type of cancer is not a very common type of cancer in Bahrain. We cannot say for certain about the cause of cancer in this particular case. But an unhealthy lifestyle could have been a contributor as he was obese and followed an unhealthy diet. The cancer is multi-factorial so there is not one cause for its origin,” he said.