Rotary holds ear clinic
It’s a project that has been going on quietly for several years now. On Thursday the clinic was packed once again as people seeking a medical opinion about their hearing loss waited anxiously to see a visiting doctor. Hyacinth Latchman stopped by the Rotary Ear Clinic to find out about the types of problems being observed and what is being done to help the patients.
The Rotary Club has been offering ear clinics for the past three years here in Belize. Today Dr. Mark Reader, who has come to Belize for the past two years says that he has encountered a common ear infection that affects not only children but also adults.
Dr. Mark Reader
“The most common one that we know of so far is fluid behind the eardrum. And is usually left over after an ear infection. The ear infection is usually cleared up but the fluid stays there.
Most of the patients we see are children but we are seeing some adults as well with ear problems. We are seeing a lot of children and adults with nerve loss, with their hearing as well and the nerve that goes through the ear to the brain is not working as it should. So we are seeing a lot of that as well.”
While most of us might never know what it is like to have a child suffering from hearing loss, the parents who do know simply want help for their children.
Florentina Itza
“I brought my son here because he can’t talk good. Sometimes we can’t understand what he says and I will see what the doctor can do for him.”
Q: “What do you hope the doctor can do for him?”
Florentina Itza
“I hope that the doctor will see what happen with his tongue.”
Marina King
“From birth she had this defect, her hearing, she never speaks. She is nine years old right now. She doesn’t understand the way we would speak to her. Just a little bit of sign language we know.
I hope we will get something accomplished, because I met with these doctors in 1996 and one of them told me that she was a good candidate for ear-implant. So maybe I will be lucky this time.”
Dr. Reader says that while he is here in Belize he hopes that he will be able to make life easier for those who experience hearing loss.
Dr. Mark Reader
“We are hoping to do two things: one is to provide hearing aid to the children that need hearing aids. And, Dr. Paul Hunt is here working with our team on that. And then the other thing we are trying to screen children who would benefit with surgical procedures that would help them with hearing as well.”
Hyacinth Latchman for News Five.
As part of this year’s visit, Dr. Reader has performed three operations on children and assisted with another yesterday morning at the Karl Heusner Memorial. The two doctors held clinics in Punta Gorda last week.
