Update on "Riah" with swollen vulva...
 
Riah appears to be unchanged at this point except that after completing 10
days of clavamox, her discharge is gone.  The swelling seems to fluctuate.
There are times when I look at it and it doesn't even look swollen.  I had
an ultrasound done on friday last week.  We got several really good images
at both kidneys and didn't see any abnormal growths or tissues near them.
For right now I am watching her closely.  I understand it will only be a
matter of time before she will need surgery.
 
I am worried about several aspects of the surgery.  The money is something
I am prepared for and can handle.  (I estimate about $1,500 with all the
follow-up care, histo, etc.)  The doctor who performs about 1-2 of these
surgeries/week for the last 15 years is NOT somebody I am familiar with.
 
I work for a small animal vet myself (he does NOT see ferrets-only mine,
kinda) and I am very familiar with proper technique.  When I went to see
this ferret-vet, he didn't even have sinks in the exam room for which
to wash his hands.  When the tech took my ferret out of the room to get
a weight and temp I heard her say "What is a normal ferret temp?"  And
when the doctor wanted to do a UA to look for squamous (sp?) cells, he
expressed her bladder over the exam table and drew the urine up into a
syringe off the exam table.  I know that isn't something we would ever do
at my work.  I wonder if these things are just things I am going to have
to trust the office on.  Anesthetic is also a concern.  He says they only
use Iso, no inj., but what about recovery and aftercare?
 
Also, i'm afraid if he gets in there and everything appears normal, that
he will remove an adrenal gland, debulk the other.  What happens if he
removes one gland, unsure which one has irregualr growth, and the other
one is the problem?  He also said he does a lot of gut biopsies while he's
in there, because there is such a high occurance of probs there.  All of
this of course wouldn't be with out proper labwork prior.  What do you
all think?  Does this sound routine?
[Posted in FML issue 3803]