“I am very lucky to get the operation free of cost,” she said, her eyes sparkling. Wei said she would like to go to school as soon as possible. Wei also added that she would like to become a doctor to take care of patients and reduce their pain.
One of the volunteer-doctors said the cost for acoustic neuroma removal surgery was HK$600,000. He said there were about 100 new cases of acoustic neuroma in Hong Kong each year. However, there are a few cases of giant tumor of more than four centimeters.
The majority of patients in Hong Kong were middle-aged men, he noted, and young patients like Wei were rare. Explaining acoustic neuroma, he said if the disease was found at a young age, the tumor would grow rather fast. He also said patients in Hong Kong with tumor less than two centimeters could opt for a follow-up therapy instead of surgery. Dr. Joseph Lam Ming-kuen, specialist in neurosurgery who also took part in the free surgery, said the incidence of acoustic neuroma in Hong Kong had been increasing in recent years.
A higher incidence rate could be related to the fact that MRI scanning had become more common for people with loss of hearing on one side. Chief hospital manager of The Hong Kong Hospital, said: “Healing Heart Initiative” would provide free surgery to 10 poor patients in Hong Kong and mainland. Wei was the third person to have received the service, he added.
Reference: www.scmp.com.
The information provided aims to provide educational purpose, if you have the described conditions as above, please consult your neurosurgeon.
