Subsequently, Juan Pedro Franco Castañeda will attempt to eliminate up to 80 pounds of fat, skin and blood by the end of the year, which would require up to eight surgeries.
Known as the most obese man in the world, Mexican Juan Pedro Franco overcame Covid-19 and is gearing up to lose the last 19 pounds that separate him from the process of rebuilding his body.
“I am excited because this is to improve and move forward, happy because we are continuing the process after it has been halted for a long time due to the pandemic that has hit us all,” said the 36-year-old man. Efe this Saturday., Who weighed 595 pounds.
In recent months, the Guinness weight record holder lost his parents to SARS-CoV-2, but he beat the coronavirus despite suffering from diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), his bariatrician José Castañeda said.
It may interest you: How the one who was the fattest man in the world overcame COVID-19
The obesity doctor revealed that while Franco’s symptoms of Covid-19 were mild, his medical history caused lung damage with fatigue and a 19 pound regain that brought him to his current weight of 294 pounds.
“The covid-19 caused sequelae at the lung level, a mild fibrosis that made it a bit difficult for him to walk as before, the muscle part where he had a certain amount of affection, legs with a certain amount of numbness and that caused also ensures that it has arrived again ”, he said.
This increase in volume complicates the skin reconstruction surgery scheduled for early 2021, so he underwent lab tests in mid-February to see if he can proceed with the protocol.
Read more: The world’s most obese man’s struggle to lose weight and walk again
After nearly six months of being infected with the virus, his health is generally good and stable, according to doctors, who are evaluating whether weight gain can be reversed with diet alone or whether a new bariatric intervention is needed to get those to less than 220 pounds. .
That weight would make the reconstruction process viable in which Castañeda aims to eliminate up to 80 pounds of adipose tissue, skin and blood, which would require up to eight surgeries by the end of the year.
“Weight loss will be of great help to Juan Pedro’s plastic and reconstructive part because the risks will be less, less weight and greater chances of success,” said the specialist.
The mental aspect was essential for Franco not only to have overcome the process of losing 331 pounds and leaving the bed in which he was bedridden, but also to overcome the covid-19 and overcome the death of his parents, which were an important pillar. for him.
Franco said he feels lucky to have overcome covid-19, which he attributes to the weight loss and control doctors have made of his diabetes for a few years.
“I continue with the same attitude that anything can be done and that I have to move forward and finish everything that I have started so that what my parents and the doctor did is worth it, I am on the road, there are many years of fighting and we will not lower their arms because of what happened, ”he said.
COVID-19 took his 66-year-old mother, who was in control of his diet. AFP photo