“It is hard for me to communicate with other people,” shares Srey, a 45-year-old factory worker who lives with her husband in Cambodia.
“Srey was 10 years old when she began experiencing daily ear discharge, hearing loss, and pain in her right ear,” our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), tells us. “Doctors discovered a cholesteatoma in her right ear.”
A cholesteatoma is an abnormal skin growth located behind the eardrum. It initially develops as a cyst after chronic ear infections or perforation of the eardrum. Over time, the cyst sheds layers of old skin that collect within the ear. Without treatment, a cholesteatoma can grow large enough to cause hearing loss, dizziness, or facial paralysis.
When Srey is not working, she enjoys cross-stitching and working around her house, but her ear pain and discharge limit her daily activities. “Sometimes I can not go to work because my ear is so painful and disruptive,” she says.
Treatment for Srey is a mastoidectomy, a surgical procedure in which doctors remove the diseased cells in the hollow, air-filled spaces in the skull behind the ears. The cells—known as mastoid air cells—are diseased as a result of the chronic ear infections that spread to the skull structures near Srey’s right ear. Doctors will also remove the cholesteatoma that has grown behind her eardrum.
For $809, Srey will undergo the surgery that she needs. Funding also covers the costs of two hearing tests, one night in the hospital, one day of inpatient post-operative care, and three outpatient follow-up visits in the month following surgery.
“After a mastoidectomy, the cholesteatoma in Srey’s right ear will be treated,” says CSC. “The discharge will stop, and her hearing will improve.”
Srey’s husband looks forward to a successful operation for his wife. “I hope after the operation is done, my wife’s ear discharge stops, and she can have good hearing and health again,” he says.