It’s been some time since I’ve had the chance to give you all a story from our ENT department, so I’ve decided to tell you the story of Lukoba, a 6 year old girl from Lusaka.  I sat down with her mother, Edith, who told me that last February, Lukoba had put cotton wool in her ears to clean them.  She thought she had completely removed the cotton wool.  Unfortunately, two weeks later, Lukoba started complaining of pain in her ears.  She was also having trouble hearing out of her right ear.  “I was really very worried, and I wasn’t sure what to do,” said Edith.  Edith checked the inside her daughter’s ears and noticed something white in her right ear.  Mother and daughter quickly headed to their local clinic, where nurses removed the remnants of the cotton wool and flushed out her right ear.

For the next few days everything seemed to be going well for Lukoba, until she started to complain again about pain in the same right ear.  Edith again took her daughter back to the clinic, where the staff, not completely sure as to what the problem was, proceeded to do the same routine of cleaning and flushing.  Over the following weeks, Lukoba’s agony persisted, but this time there was the added complication of puss oozing from her ear.  Edith, fast approaching her wit’s end, got a call from her niece telling her about CURE Zambia.  “My niece had heard on the television that Beit CURE had just opened an ENT clinic,” said Edith, “so I figured that I might as well try it.”

In March, Edith took Lukoba to CURE Zambia as a last resort.  Lukoba was booked into an appointment with CURE Zambia’s ENT surgeon extraordinaire, Dr. Uta Fröschl.  The doctor gave Lukoba some eardrops to clear up what by then was an acute ear infection.  Dr. Fröschl also diagnosed Lukoba with having two perforations in her right eardrum.  “I knew that the smaller perforation would heal on its own,” Dr. Fröschl explained, “but the larger perforation would require further attention.”

Dr. Fröschl advised Edith to keep Lukoba’s ear dry, in hopes that the eardrum would completely heal on its own.  Unfortunately, while the puss that was leaking from the ear had stopped, Lukoba continued to have pain and was now complaining of a ‘ringing’ in her inner ear.

When Edith returned to CURE Zambia last week for Lukoba’s checkup, Dr. Uta said that she thought it best to operate.  Of course, the operation was a complete success!  “Lukoba should make a full recovery,” said Dr. Fröschl with a smile.

“This hospital is so good—I would recommend it to anyone with ENT problems,” exclaimed Edith as Lukoba played with her teddy bear.  “Donors need to be aware of this hospital!”

Well, I hope all of you reading out there listen to Edith.  You’re donations would certainly help CURE Zambia help more children like Lukoba across Lusaka and the country!

Learn more about CURE Zambia here: http://cure.org/hospitals/zambia/