En is a 24-year-old farmer from Cambodia. Our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Center (CSC), shares that besides farming, En enjoys helping to cook food for her four sisters and older brother.
At the age of six En caught the common cold, accompanied by an earache. Because the ear is closely connected to the respiratory tract, colds caught by young children can often result in ear infections. The inflammation in En’s ear developed into a chronic condition, otitis media, where hearing loss and ear discharge occur. Because she has had this condition in her right ear for years, En’s tympanic membrane has become perforated. En says, “I am unhappy that I have ear pain and it is difficult to communicate.”
For $399, a surgeon at CSC will perform a myringoplasty on En’s right ear. This is a procedure where a tiny incision is made in the eardrum to drain the excess fluids. En’s hearing will be restored with an epithelial graft, where the location of the perforation will be packed and soaked with antibiotics and the graft will be extended over the incision.
En and her sister both hope that this surgery will finally relieve her symptoms after so many years. Her sister shares, “I hope after the operation is done, my sister’s discharge stops and she has good hearing and health.”