Jonti's Story

This is Jonti's Journey, written by her mum Jenny.

Jonti was born in 2013 and currently attends school at St Laurence’s Primary in Dubbo
Jonti was born ABO incompatible and was mostly sick for the first 12 months of her life
18 months of age- perforations started with her first ear infection
She was often at the doctors weekly. The perforation would almost heal then burst again. She never showed any pain with it
Age 3 - adenoids removed, grommet in right ear and fat graft from her ear lobe in left ear (which didn’t take)
Age 5- tonsil out and adenoids scraped. Left perforation unchanged.
Jonti was first tested with Hear our Heart at age 4 at Preschool. The support we have received by them since has been so important to managing her ear health until she was old enough to have the hole in her left ear fixed at age 9.
In May 2022, Ear Specialist Dr Sirigiri decided her ears were healthy enough to try another skin graft. He booked her for surgery and at the appointment she received important education about keeping her ears dry in the shower to keep the hole dry and healthy for the surgery..
In June 2022, Jonti was invited to talk to medical students about her otitis media with Dr Sirigiri. The talk finished with an impromptu Tik Tok dance with the students!
Our journey is almost complete. In November 2022 Dr Sirigiri confirmed the graft had taken and her hole was patched. We now only have to have check ups and hearing testing to monitor Jonti’s ears.
We are so thankful to the Hear our Heart team!

Examination at Dr Sirigiri’s office

Ear toileting – using the microscope to clean the ears with suction, curette
Despite the name, there’s no flushing involved!

In 2022 Dr Sirigiri decided her ears were healthy enough to try another skin graft.

First visit to ENT May, 2022.
In the waiting room, education around keeping the ear dry.

School + Ear Specialist + parents = success.
Teamwork helped to get Jonte on the pathway to better ear health and improved outcomes at school.

In June 2022, Jonte was invited to talk to medical students about her otitis media with Dr Sirigiri. The talk finished with an impromptu tik Tok dance with the students!