>Rinkydink came thru her surgery just fine....
>The bad news is that it is not a blockage.  Dr. Howard found an area where
>the stomach wall was thickened along with some thickened intestines.  The
>lymph nodes in this area were swollen.  He took a total of 6 biopsies.
>The pathology report will take 5 to 7 days.
 
Hi, Karen,
 
I am glad Rinkydink came through her surgery OK.  Please remember that you
won't have a diagnosis until the pathology comes back.  Dr. Hudson was
95% sure that Pertwee's kidney was cancerous considering the two previous
malignancies, and that we'd have to put the little guy down.  He never even
considered polycystic disease, since renal cysts are almost never clinical.
The pathology report, of course, showed no cancer whatsoever and cysts
throughout his kidney.  Pertwee is almost 100% recovered now, and is
expected to live a nice, normal life.  Not too bad for a ferret that three
different excellent ferret vets (Drs.  Hudson, Feimster, and Powers) were
almost certain was going to die.
 
*If* it is juvenile lymphoma (and that is a *big* if), please take heart
in the fact that you are giving Rinkydink about the best life a ferret
could have.  I know how much you love her and all your fuzzies.  She was
a rescue, right?  Think about what her life might have been like if you
hadn't come along and taken her in.  Think about how short and brutish it
might have been.  Instead she is happy and loved.
 
Finally, if you don't get a definitive answer from the pathology report,
please consider getting a second opinion.  As much as I respect Dr. Dan
Hudson, and as great as his reputation is in the ferret community, he
urged me to get a second opinion on Pertwee, which is how Dr. Powers got
involved.  In the end Dr. Dan did save Pertwee's life, but consultations
and the examination by other vets got him thinking about different
possibilities and helped us rule out some nasty (and fatal) diagnoses.
In all likelihood Dr. Howard will feel the same way Dr. Hudson did about
another opinion.
 
Rinkydink is a wonderful ferret, and I hope it turns out that she is with
you for many years.  No matter what happens, please cherish the joy she
has brought to your life, and please take some pride in all you have done
for your ferrets and the rescues that have been in your care.
 
Of course, we'll be keeping her in our thoughts.
 
All the best,
Caity, Keith, and the exuberant eight (Tenchi, Adric, Kerr Avon, Nyssa,
Ryo-Ohki, Lady Ayeka, Romana, and Pertwee the Wonder Weasel)
[Posted in FML issue 3203]