Nuch, a 15-year-old student from Cambodia, “enjoys reading English magazines,” shares our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC). The ninth grader also enthusiastically tells CSC that her favorite food is “fried pork.”
Over the past few months, a cyst has persistently grown on her eyelid. This cyst—called a chalazion—is a painful condition caused by an oil blockage. When the opening of an oil gland near the eyelid becomes obstructed, the surrounding area begins to swell. While this swelling initially causes the eyelid to become red and tender, it soon afterwards transforms into a small mass.
Given that the chalazion has grown rapidly over a short period of time, Nuch expresses her worry that the cyst “will get bigger.” For this reason, she has become increasingly “uncomfortable and shy around her friends,” Nuch explains to CSC.
With $150, Nuch will receive an operation to remove the chalazion from her eyelid. This will be a quick procedure in which a single incision will be made to completely remove the cyst, thereby preventing it from returning in the future.
After she recovers from her surgery, Nuch hopes to “get a job at a local garment factory to help support her family.”
