Monday, July 23, 2007

Luna’s Close Up (Part One)

Beware, that the photos below may not be for the faint of heart.  The next couple of blogs will be about Luna and her eyes.  You see, we recently went to the eye specialist and this was the first time that Luna’s medication stayed the same as it has been for the last few months. The news was the best it has ever been!  Luna’s eyes are as healthy as we could ever expect them to be! The vet was thrilled.  (As were we, of course!)

I explained to the ophthalmologist that we do a website about pugs and write stories detailing Benjamin, Henry & Luna’s adventures.  I asked if they could possibly email some of the photos that they have taken of her eye over the last year and a half.  I explained that we would like to share the photos with our readers and do whatever we could to help our readers learn a little bit about eye issues, especially in pugs since they are so common.

But I must say, when the email came, I was taken a little aback because the photos sure are an up close and personal look at Luna’s eyes in various stages of healthiness (or unhealthiness, if you will.)  When we got Luna, we knew that she had dry eye.  We definitely felt that that was a condition that we could easily manage.  Unfortunately, her eye issues developed further and she developed a tumor on her eye.  As you can see from the photo, the bright red bulbous spot was unsightly.  I am quite sure it was very uncomfortable, as well.  (Initially, there was some concern as to whether or not it was cancerous, too, but fortunately, when all was said and done, Luna had a super prognosis.)

Luna went in for surgery and had the tumor removed.

The vet said it wasn’t too bad and that she would be fine in no time.  (What made it so unfortunate was that while we knew that Luna had not really been taken care of very well and was used mostly for breeding, that her overall unhealthiness was a result of moderate neglect and could have been prevented with reasonable care.)  It was just the tip of the iceberg for us because while we knew that she would have some health issues, it just seemed to be one thing after the other.  Our bubble would be repeatedly burst each time a new issue would come up.  We just kept thinking that we could make her well.  We would just feed her right, medicate her properly and love her to pieces and she would be 100% sometime soon.  Well, the reality of it is that she had been taken for granted for too long before we rescued her.  There would be no amount of love, kindness and special treatment that would make her medicine free for the rest of her life.

This photo is the “after” shot of Luna’s eye following her tumor surgery.  As you can see, she there is a scar on the eyeball.  It has healed nicely.  This is her right eye.  Her “good eye.”  This eye has chronic dry eye and doesn’t close all the way since it is so poorly lubricated.  The vet says that since there is so much scar tissue, she doesn’t have the sensation to know if her own eye is open or closed.  It’s a shame.  As sad as it, though, she truly doesn’t seem to know the difference.  She never feels sorry for herself.  She never doubts that she a beautiful princess!  She really is a princess.  Inside & out!