Although purchased from a "backyard breeder," she had a few notable pugs in her pedigree. She was recovering from a respiratory infection when we purchased her. She's had many health scares: reactions to booster shots and bee stings. The summer of '96 we thought she was just sulking about adding another pug to the household, but it turned out she was diagnosed with pulmonary problems (or at least that was what we thought). After an EKG and medication for asthma, she was almost back to her old self--until another summer rolled around.

During the summer of '97, she was again experiencing difficulty and again another EKG, x-rays, and other tests were performed. A medley of drugs were tried and still she wasn't getting any better. On September 15, 1997 we took her for an evaluation at Iowa State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. They kept her for tests and diagnosed her with laryngeal paralysis, an elongated soft palate, stenotic nares, laryngeal saccules, and thick vocal folds. Choomia remained in the ICU for the next three weeks and four surgeries were performed to attempt to correct these problems.  During the final surgery to repair her trachea, it was decided that the only viable option was a permanent tracheotomy which was performed on October 1, 1997. The transition and recovery period through the first two months was difficult. She returned for an evaluation on December 1, 1997 and the surgeon and staff were very pleased with her recovery which helped us all relax a little. She continued to improve and was able to run and play and be a happy little pug again thanks to Drs. Merkley, Campbell, the students and staff at ISU and especially Yuko, a very special vet student!

 
9-23-97 This was our second visit with Choomia in the ICU at Iowa State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Ames, IA. At this point the tracheostomy was temporary following the removal of her larynx (voice box and vocal chords), laryngeal saccules, and thickened vocal folds. On 9-26-97 additional surgery was performed to correct stenotic nares and elongated soft palate. 10-1-97 a second arytenoid lateralization surgery was performed, it was felt at the time Choomia was going to continue to have respiratory problems despite this procedure, so a permanent tracheotomy was performed.

 
These photos (taken 10-4-97 and 10-7-97) show her final tracheotomy and how the surgeons removed part of her neck folds to help the tracheotomy site stay open. After three weeks in the ICU, Choomia was able to return home on 10-6-97.

 
10-12-97 was the day she finally got the sutures and staples removed.
The site and surrounding area is healing very nicely.

   
10-19-97 You can see the stapled areas have healed,
but not much fur is growing back yet.

1-2-98 Choomia's fur has almost obliterated any trace of her surgeries.

Choomia's Surgery--March 2001

March 12, 2001 Choomia returned to ISU in Ames, IA to have a small tumor removed from her left eyelid and to have the skin around her tracheotomy "tightened." Her surgeon, Dr. Merkley called us after the surgery to let us know that things did not go as well as he had hoped. When he tried to adjust things in one direction it caused too much tension in a different area. He warned us that she looked pretty bad, but that the students caring for her thought her breathing was improved.

On March 16th we returned to bring her home despite seeing 61 cars and 13 semi trucks in the ditches along I-80. She was so excited to see us, we were afraid she might injure herself. She has massive incisions from her ear to her shoulder on both sides of her tracheotomy. Here are a few pictures we took of her on Saturday, March 17th:

The good news is that she is looking better everyday. Already her incisions look better and fur is starting to grow back. The two bruises/hematomas on her shoulders are almost gone. But the best news is that she is breathing much better. We've had to touch her in the night to make sure she's still alive since she's breathing so quietly. This morning I saw her sleeping soundly on her side for the first time since her original LP surgeries. She still has a lot of healing to do and another week before the staples come out (all 58 of them), but we are hopeful that the results will be worth it!

Photos of Choomia taken 3/25/01 with staples and 3/26/01 without staples. As you can see, she is healing nicely and has quite a bit of fur growing back in the shaved areas. Don't think that because she had her larynx removed that she doesn't make her presence known (see her "barking"). She's doing great, sleeping better than she has in years and has a lot of more energy. She's quite the feisty pug once again!

Photos taken 4/8/01:

Photos taken 4/15/01:

Choomia seems to be much happier and have more energy than she has for several years. We are thankful for the opportunity to have her in our lives and for Dr. Merkley and the staff and students at ISU.

Choomia continues to do well with very little intervention from us. Although we wish there had been an alternative, don't think that a tracheotomy is a death sentence. Choomia still has a high quality of life and only heat and humidity are her enemies. She can't swim or be near water, but otherwise she enjoys life, especially "barking" at the postal delivery person. She's a great little pug who we hope to have with us for many years to come!

Here is Choomia on her 12th birthday (10/22/2003). 

Christmas 2004

Choomia died in her sleep on Christmas morning 2004. She was a wonderful little pug who had been through a lot in her 13+ years. Through it all she always wagged her tail and pranced around like a little princess. She loved to travel, but her surgeries made that very difficult. She did attend the Chicago Pug Party in October 2004 and stole many hearts. We were lucky to have her in our lives.
She was loved!

Yahoo Group for owners of dogs with tracheostomies: [email protected]