| January
2015 - Case History - Nassali Esther |
| Nassali Esther
is a 13 year old girl who was admitted in ACHERU in April last
year. She comes from a family of 8 children and her family are
peasant farmers. |
| When she
arrived at ACHERU she had very visible swellings on both ears
which she said was very painful. She was born with perfectly
normal ears, however, as she was growing both ears started to
developed swellings which eventually progressed in size. |
 |
| Her father
believed that Esther’s swellings were caused by having her
ears pierced as a baby. He said that they had pierced them at
home and that it was done using a needle and managed using hot
water with salt and the ears healed well. However, when Esther
was two they noticed that one side of the ear developed a
swelling which to their mind was not serious as she was not
complaining of having any pain. Rather than seeking medical
attention they tried to treat it locally using onions as
directed by community members, however this was painful for
Esther. Her parents quickly stopped this treatment, but did not
seek any further medical attention. Instead her swellings
continued to grow and they were becoming more painful. Esther
was becoming increasingly unhappy, she blamed the community
members for giving her parents poor advice and she was scared of
attending school due to being laughed at. It was in 2012 that
due to concern for their daughter that Esther’s parents
took her to a government hospital. They operated on the left ear
first, however, within 6 months, the swelling on this ear
reoccurred with tremendous speed. This left her parents too
scared to return with her for surgery on the other ear. It was
only due to a good Samaritan directing them towards ACHERU that
Esther found an end to her worries. |
| When Esther
arrived at ACHERU, assessment was carried out and she was
diagnosed with bilateral ear keloids. As a result she was sent
for surgery on 17th November where intralesional excision of
keloid and injection triam was performed. After surgery she was
provided with medicine and daily dressings were required. Esther
also received counselling while at ACHERU and this along with
her dramatic physical transformation has helped her to regain
her self-confidence and integrate back into society again. |
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