Ly is a 23-year-old student from Cambodia. She is in her second year at university where she is studying economics. In her free time, she enjoys reading books, listening to music, and cooking food.
Ly developed an ear infection in her right ear when she was five years old. This caused her right tympanic membrane to perforate. This has caused hearing loss, pain, and recurrent discharge from her ear. She has received ear drops from various health centers over the years for treatment, but her condition requires surgery to be fully treated.
After hearing about Watsi’s medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), on the radio, she traveled two hours with her mom to reach the facility for treatment. Doctors at CSC discovered a cholesteatoma—an abnormal skin growth located behind the eardrum—in Ly’s right ear. A cholesteatoma initially develops as a cyst after chronic ear infections. 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.
For $809, surgeons at CSC will perform a mastoidectomy, a surgical procedure in which doctors remove the diseased cells in the hollow, air-filled spaces in the skull behind the ear. The cells—known as mastoid air cells—are diseased as a result of Ly’s ear infections that spread to the skull structures near her right ear. Doctors will also remove the cholesteatoma that has grown behind her right eardrum.
Funding for Ly 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 surgery, Ly’s ear discharge and pain will stop. Let’s help make that happen!