Sometime in 2006, water entered my left ear while bathing and the hearing became unclear. After sometime, I went to the clinic to see the doctor. The doctor at the clinic removed the swollen wax and washed my ear and gave me some ear drop to apply. However, I still had the feeling that there was water in my ear. I just don’t bother about it and got used to it although the hearing was blurred. In 2008 when I was in Ipoh, my family members encouraged me to see an ENT doctor. I went to see the ENT doctor in Ipoh and the ENT doctor told me that my ear drum had a hole and that due to water seeping into my ear, my hearing became unclear. I was given ear drops and antibiotics and the ENT doctor in Ipoh wrote a referral letter for me to see the ENT specialist in UMMC. However, I did not go to UMMC because I was afraid and at that time there was no pain or discharge from my left ear. Then in mid-October 2010, I had an infection – there was a smelly discharge coming out of my ear and I could not hear properly. I was frightened and this time I went to the out-patient clinic in UMMC for treatment. The doctor at the out-patient clinic in UMMC immediately referred me to the ENT department in UMMC. On the same day, the doctor in the ENT department in UMMC cleaned my ear and sucked out the pus and I was given antibiotics. I was asked to go back to UMMC for a follow up after two weeks. During the follow up on 1 November 2010, the ENT doctor cleaned and dug out the wax in my ear and then examined my ear using a microscope. After the examination, I was told by the ENT doctor that I had this disease cholesteatoma and that I need to undergo an operation to treat the disease.

After I was confirmed to have the disease cholesteatoma, I continue to have follow-up treatment at UMMC until my first operation at the UMMC on 28 March 2011. The operation was performed by Professor Raj and his team. After the operation, I was given follow up treatment at UMMC and all my follow up treatment was conducted by Professor Raj. Following the first operation on 28 March 2011, I was informed by Professor Raj that I need to undergo a second operation. I was afraid but Professor Raj took the trouble to explain to me what was done during the first operation and why a second operation was needed. Professor Raj very patiently explained to me the procedures and what would be done during the second operation. I felt very lucky because I had never met a doctor who is so kind and helpful and who took the trouble to talk to his patient about the disease and the pros and cons of the operation. Professor Raj gave me the confidence and put my fear to rest to undergo the second operation. A second operation was scheduled in December 2011 but was postponed to March 2012 due to congestion at the UMMC operation theatre. However, the operation scheduled in March 2012 was postponed because Prof Raj was trying his best to get his mentor and UK colleague to perform the second operation using the Laser equipment in KL. In May 2012, Professor Raj left UMMC for Gleneagles Hospital. As I have full trust and confidence in Professor Raj, I decided to follow up my treatment with him at the Gleneagles Hospital. On 7 December 2012, I underwent a second operation at Gleneagles Hospital. The second operation was performed by Professor Raj and his team using the Laser equipment. After the second operation, I continued my follow-up treatment with Professor Raj until now. On the treatments received, I sincerely wish to thank Professor Raj for all his help and for being a very caring, dedicated and responsible doctor. I think he is the only doctor who will go all out to explain to his patient what is the disease cholesteatoma, what he is going to do during the operation, how long the operation will take, and how to keep the ear clean and dry to prevent reinfection after the operation. I can feel from my heart that Professor Raj is a very friendly, very kind hearted, very helpful and a very experience doctor. When he removed the stitches from the wounds after my operations, there was no pain. He is such a gentle doctor and his hands are very steady when he examined and cleaned my ear during the follow-up treatment after the operations. All I can say is that the treatments that I have received from Professor Raj is excellent and I have no doubt recommending my friends and family members to him for any ENT problems.

It is more than 8 months after my second operation and now I have recovered from the disease. My hearing is almost back to normal following the implant of the middle ear bone. The continuous noise in my ear (tinnitus) is almost gone after the second operation. I hope the disease Cholesteatoma will not come back and I have also taken precautions not to wet my ear when taking my bath. After this experience, I realised that one needs to go for treatment as soon as possible when the disease is still at an early stage and not to wait until the disease has become serious.

Ooi Hua Beng