Johannesburg - This weekend, the worried family of 450kg Corrie Le Grange will know whether he will live or die. His life hung in the balance on Friday as he was transferred to the intensive care unit of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, where he remains “gravely ill”, according to the consultant physician treating him, Dr Brad Merwitz.
The doctor, who specialises in internal medicine, said: “His condition is sub-optimal. He’s very ill. It’s tenuous. This weekend is quite critical. If we turn this corner, and he comes out of ICU, it will be a long road (to recovery) for him.”
La Grange has been bedridden for months during which time he put on 200kg. The desperate family of the 60-year-old businessman were turned away from 10 private hospitals because he did not have medical aid or the R100 000 upfront to admit him.
Desperate, they called the Gauteng Department of Health. And on Wednesday a team of neighbours and paramedics had to use ropes and sheets to haul him into a vehicle to move him to the hospital.
Merwitz said the team of doctors attending to Le Grange were trying to obtain a solid diagnosis. “He is very ill. We can’t move him around. Just because of his size, logistically, it’s difficult.
“Our CT scanner can’t support his weight and we may need to use other facilities. It’s not unheard of for patients like this to go to the Joburg Zoo or Onderstepoort for scans, because ours are just not big enough. Because of all the fat and fluid in his abdomen, it’s very difficult to do a sonar.
“At the moment we’re relying on blood tests to stabilise him, correct the biochemistry, to manage his infections and to support his heart.
“He has a number of different conditions, a number of problems, involving multiple-organ systems. His heart, kidney, lungs are all affected to some degree.
“But the main underlying problem is he’s obese. And it’s because of the obesity we’re seeing the consequences manifesting on his lungs, and on his heart.”
Merwitz said while Le Grange did suffer from ascites, a condition caused when fluid accumulates in the abdomen, it was merely a symptom of his illness.
“There’s a bigger lifestyle issue here… We need to treat the underlying causes. If it’s irreversible, management of this becomes difficult. We’ll never say it’s his fault. We are where we are. But we are doing everything we can to stabilise him, to get him over this bump. Once he’s over this, hopefully his family will do the lifestyle modifications to make him functional again. He is not able to walk.”
Le Grange’s condition had taken months, if not years, to develop.
Yesterday, his family said they were trying to deal with the situation: “It is a difficult time. We are all taking it hard especially Shammy (Le Grange’s partner) and the kids. But she’s hopeful,” said Le Grange’s son-in-law Quinton Pretorius.
Saturday Star