Sor is a 37-year-old farmer from Cambodia. She has two children and her husband is a nurse at a local health center. Sor helps her children with their school work and cooks for their family using crops from her garden. When she has freetime, she likes to watch dramas on TV and play mobile phone games.
Eight years ago, Sor developed a pterygium in both eyes, causing her severe irritation, tearing, and pain. These symptoms have gotten worse in the past three months. Pterygiums are non-cancerous growths of the conjunctiva, a mucous layer that lubricates the eye. The growths occur when the conjunctiva is exposed to excessive sun damage and the cells grow abnormally over the pupil.
When Sor learned about our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre, she traveled for three hours seeking treatment. Sor needs a surgical procedure to remove the abnormal conjunctiva from the cornea surface and replace it with a conjunctival graft to prevent recurrence. The total cost of her procedure is $216. This covers medications, supplies, and inpatient care for two days. The procedure is scheduled for June 9th.
Sor said, “I hope that after surgery I no longer feel the burning pain that I feel now. It makes it so hard to work on my farm, and recently I can’t go very far from the house by myself. I also hope my eye will look normal as before.”