A woman born with a rare condition has to live with a metal tube in her throat to help her breath.
Alii Robinson was born with an extremely rare condition which meant that her lower jaw and upper airway couldn't form properly.
Due to the severity, doctors had to perform an emergency tracheostomy operation weeks after she was born.
A tube and a metal tube were inserted into Alii's throat to help her breath normally at just five weeks.
Alii Robinson was born with an extremely rare condition which meant that her lower jaw and upper airway couldn't form properly.
Due to the severity, doctors had to perform an emergency tracheostomy operation weeks after she was born.
A tube and a metal tube were inserted into Alii's throat to help her breath normally at just five weeks.
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FunTranscript
00:00 [BREATHING]
00:15 So how do I breathe with my nose, my mouth, and my trachea?
00:19 I'll tell you.
00:21 I breathe through all three-- my nose, my mouth, and my trachea.
00:23 So there's three different ways that air can get into my lungs.
00:27 I don't know how I do it.
00:28 I don't know how I split it, because I've literally done it--
00:32 excuse me-- I've done it since I was a baby.
00:36 Like, I've always had my trachea.
00:37 If I have a blocked nose, then it affects me.
00:40 Like, if I have a cold, so then I breathe through my mouth
00:44 and my trachea more.
00:47 But yeah, no, there's literally no--
00:50 I can't explain how I do it, because I've literally
00:52 done it forever.
00:52 And it's just how I breathe.
00:53 I guess it's just how you guys breathe when you breathe
00:55 in through your nose or whatever.
00:58 Yeah, I can't-- there's no real way
01:01 I can explain how I do it, because I just breathe.
01:04 But yeah, that's it.
01:08 Right, so I have two different valves.
01:10 I've got this one here that I wear at daytime.
01:13 When I breathe in, you can see the air goes in.
01:15 And when I breathe out, it kind of cuts off,
01:18 because it helps me get a voice.
01:19 So it pushes the air in my vocal cords.
01:21 Now, at bedtime, I have a different valve.
01:24 So this is the HME.
01:26 Can you see that?
01:28 A bit higher.
01:30 And there's my other valve as well.
01:32 Here it is.
01:34 My daughter is behind the camera.
01:35 She's going to take this one out and put the bedtime one in.
01:39 So are you ready?
01:40 Mm-mm.
01:41 It didn't even say go.
01:45 You can go.
01:46 It's fine.
01:47 Pull it.
01:48 Pull it.
01:48 I can't.
01:49 [LAUGHTER]
01:51 Whoa.
01:56 Whoa.
01:57 Speedy.
01:59 Speedy Gonzalez.
02:00 Yes.
02:01 [GROANS]
02:02 Ow.
02:03 [HIGH FIVE]
02:06 So this is, as you can see, it sticks out more.
02:13 So I can put this on, which is a HME,
02:15 which stands for Humidify and Moisture Exchange.
02:20 So this is a tracheostomy.
02:21 It helps you breathe.
02:22 So if I pull this out here, it goes into my windpipe,
02:25 and it helps me breathe.
02:26 So I've had it for 32 years, nearly 33 years.
02:30 So yeah, tracheostomy helps me breathe.
02:32 And basically, just a hole in my neck.