Thank you, Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]> Rupert & Mitts' dad, for your
good wishes
for Bandit.  I'm very sorry to hear about Rupert -- he sounds
like he had a wonderful life.
 
Bandit made it through surgery yesterday OK.  Dr. Rosenthal
said he was up & walking around yesterday afternoon & even
had a little food, though a little drowsy from painkillers &
the aftereffects of anesthesia. Right now he's in "ferret ICU" --
being watched 24 hours a day (my husband says he pictures
a room with little beds with ferrets in them, with the blankets
pulled up to their chins & their paws sticking out over the
top -- and when everyone leaves the room, they all sit up
& start giggling).  Dr. Rosenthal says if he does well overnight
& starts eating & becomes more active, we may be able to take
him home tonight or tomorrow.
 
The news from the operation itself is somewhat mixed -- not as
bad as it might have been but not as good as we might have
hoped.  The spleen came out, though it appears not to be
cancerous. The intestines (which Dr. Rosenthal was concerned
about because they appeared "thickened" on the ultrasound)
appear OK. Ditto the pancreas, though lymph nodes near the
pancreas appeared slightly enlarged; they removed one for
biopsy.  (In previous exam, his other lymph nodes appeared
normal).  The bad news was that the cancer was too diffused
throughout his liver to remove the tumor, so they only removed
a sample for biopsy; however, his bloodwork indicated that
his liver function was normal.  We will have to wait now
for the biopsy results to find out what kind of cancer it
is & how treatable it might be. We are also waiting for
results of a bone marrow test to see if the cancer has
spread there.
 
We are doing OK about this right now because it is all so
theoretical. I'm sure it will hit us hard again soon.
 
In the meantime, my husband admitted to me yesterday morning
that he had planned to surprise me with a new kit for
my birthday (today being my birthday -- all I really want
is for Bandit to be well) but had had 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th
thoughts.  I asked Dr. Rosenthal about it -- whether it
was a good idea to have a bouncy baby around a convalescent,
and she said she actually thought it was a good idea,
provided we give B-man at least a week to recover from
surgery.  She said she thought it actually would perk
up his spirits, and that she'd seen this happen in another
case.
 
So we went to the pet store last night to see the little
monster, who turned out to be quite charming, well socialized
very playful & not bitey at all.  This is a very good pet
store BTW -- they make sure their animals get plenty of
love & attention & play time outside their cages.  We told
them about our situation & they agreed to hold the kit as
long as we needed for Bandit to recover.
 
Oh, I do SO hope he does -- though I know his chances
aren't great.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0230]