“Dr. Battaglia was very attentive and looked after me very well, especially during post-ops where he diligently cleaned my ear and surgery site to ensure proper healing.”

Liliana had to quit her job in a vineyard due to intense pain from frequent earaches. She felt sick and exhausted all the time; the dust in the vineyards only worsened her condition. Since childhood, Liliana suffered from ear infections and purulent discharge (pus), obstructing both ear canals. Her condition required careful cleaning, which alleviated her symptoms temporarily but did not address the underlying infection.

Liliana often visited Santa Rosa Health Clinic to get ear care, but the infections always returned. Eventually, she started to lose hearing in her right ear. After exhausting all non-surgical remedies and concerned about her hearing loss, Liliana visited Amy Brenner, FNP, her primary care provider (PCP) at Santa Rosa Community Health. Her PCP diagnosed her with a ruptured tympanic membrane in the right ear. Since Liliana was uninsured and could not afford the cost of care, Nurse Brenner referred her to our program for treatment.

We connected Liliana with Dr. Alexander Battaglia, an otolaryngologist at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center. Dr. Battaglia performed a tympanoplasty to repair her perforated right eardrum, prevent reinfection, and restore hearing. The surgery was successful, and Liliana had multiple audiology exams and post-op appointments to ensure proper healing.

Now fully recovered, Liliana is grateful for the excellent care that Dr. Battaglia and his team provided. Describing her experience, Liliana said, “Dr. Battaglia was very attentive and looked after me very well, especially during post-ops where he diligently cleaned my ear and surgery site to ensure proper healing.” Without this donated care, Liliana might never have gotten the surgery. She said, “it is costly to receive [specialty care], especially when one lives day to day.”

Before surgery, Liliana had approximately a 50% hearing loss in her right ear. The surgery restored her hearing to 90% and she no longer has ear infections. Liliana and her family are grateful that her hearing has been restored.

Story and photo shared with patient’s permission. Patient’s name has been changed.