Doing well!

After a bit of a wobble with her stoma in the last month, we went to the vets to see if he could check if she had a chest infection.  She had been bringing up a lot more mucus that we were happy with, and this was causing blockages and making day-to-day life revolve around cleanings.  She was put on antibiotics as she had a noisy chest. 
Her mucus problem has since 'dried up'. However, with winter coming up on us, and central heating being tentatively turned on in the evenings, we want to avoid her getting too dry, so we are going to buy some humidifiers, and see if these help any. 
The stoma has had a fresh bout of healing, and the surrounding skin is tightening up nicely, which has made the stoma much more secure.  We are now beginning to hope that at some point in the future we can have the stitches removed as these do cause Heidi some itching.
We have also kept up with the nebulising, which helps her clear her airways, as now she cannot cough as she would have once done.  (Air simply comes out of her hole, and she can no longer give a good hearty cough).
All in all though, Heidi is doing very well indeed.

3 month check up!

Today Heidi has had her trach for 3 months, and we went back to the specialists where she had it done, for a check up.  All is fine, the skin is still a little loose around the stoma, but everything seems to be going according to plan!   Little Heidi was the first to have this flesh-tunnel stoma fitted, there is nothing to compare her healing process to. 
The last week has had a few set backs however:  Being a pug she has a lot of spare skin about the neck area, this skin around the stoma has at times 'closed' over the hole, and with the presence of glue like mucus this made breathing very tricky for Heidi!   We had to keep a very close eye on her, however within a few days she had learnt to cough her way out of the situation.  We also think that perhaps some swelling may have occured, as she soon got over these wheezing attacks.