Elayne and Leonard,
 
My husband and I just had a very similar experience with our ferret, Puck.
We were completely distraught at the thought that we may loose him.  Puck
was on Pred for a little while, but he still had occasional episodes.  Puck
is also 4.5 yrs.  old, so the surgery decision was a little harder.  Our vet
said that several of the research papers she read, ferrets under 4 yrs.  old
were greatly helped by surgery, but they discourage surgery for ferrets over
5 yrs. old.  So what do you do if your ferret is right in the middle?
 
Being a biologist myself, I was interested in the research papers that Dr.
Hynes mentioned.  She let me read several, but the one that gave me the most
help (and the most hope) was a study of 42 ferrets diagnosed with Insulinoma
, surgery to remove the nodules was performed.  Survival in days after
surgery was as follows: Low 14 days.  High = 1200 days (3yrs, 3.5mo).
Average 460 days (1yr, 3mo).  On average, symptoms of Insulinoma did reoccur
in the ferrets.  We decided to let Dr. Hynes do the surgery, because it was
so hard to see Puck so all boneless, glassy-eyed and drooling.  I know that
42 ferrets is a very small sample population, but we hope and pray that Puck
is one of the 1200 day ferrets, but we will be content if this surgery can
give him a another year or two of life.  We also vowed to ourselves to make
whatever time Puck as left with us to be the best it can be.
 
Dr. Hynes performed the surgery on Monday, Feb 17.  She removed 6 - 8, B-B
sized nodules from Puck's pancreas.  (I was amazed.) Puck came home from the
clinic on Wed, Feb 19.  He is eating like a small horse, and quickly getting
back to his mischievous old ways.  Next Wednesday he has to go back to the
clinic to get his staples taken out and his blood glucose level checked.
She would like to check his blood glucose levels about every two weeks from
now on.  Dr. Hynes warned us that Puck may need to be put back on Pred in
2 -6 months.  If that happens she will increase the dosage as needed.  If he
should max.  out on the dosage of Pred she can add another medication as
well.  We hope that he won't need the Pred for a long time, but we realize
that sometime in the future, we will have to medicate him again.
 
Whatever decision you make, time is of the essence.  Putting off surgery
until later could mean that Moki could be weak from the cancer.  The
stronger she is before surgery the better her chances are, and the quicker
her recovery time will be.  If you are interested, I could try to obtain a
copy of the research papers that Dr. Hynes let me read, or at least I could
get the name of the periodicals they were published in.  The information we
received from FAQ, Dr. Hynes and fellow FML'ers was unbelievably helpful.
It helped us make our hard decision a lot easier.  The encouragement that we
got from people who have been through this buoyed us, and helped us weather
the storm.  I wish you and Moki the best.
 
Smooth sailing,
 
Theresa Kwasny
[Posted in FML issue 1852]