Seven-year-old Ben is scheduled for adrenal surgery on Friday.
Surprisingly, Ben has only had borderline adrenal symptoms, but her tumor is
huge.  Ben has generally been so energetic and playful for her age that it's
hard to realize she's a senior citizen.  Less than three weeks ago, our
veterinarian felt something in Ben's abdomen that she believed to be an
enlarged kidney.  Since we've been going to Dr. Weiss for surgery, we asked
him to take a look at Ben.  He examined Ben and her x-rays about an hour
after finishing Bridgett's adrenal surgery.  He agreed that Ben's kidney was
very enlarged and recommended surgery.  With Jerry dying of kidney failure
and Bridgett just beginning her recovery, the thought of a third surgery in
such a short time was rather overwhelming.  (Jerry had adrenal/insulinoma
surgery last October.)
 
After reading Dr. Williams' article on cystic kidneys in Modern Ferret and
corresponding with Dr. Dutton, we decided that an ultrasound should be our
next step.  We wanted to get a more specific diagnosis so we would know
whether or not Ben's condition required immediate attention; we hoped it was
something that could be managed conservatively.  Ben had the ultrasound at
Dr. Weiss' office yesterday.  The results were very surprising: instead of
an enlarged kidney, Ben has an enormous adrenal tumor (3 to 3.5 centimeters
in diameter).  We have a copy of some of the images, and the tumor is much
larger than Ben's kidney.  Dr. Weiss wanted to remove the tumor that very
day, but I felt I needed a little time to absorb the news and say goodbye to
Ben, just in case.  Besides, I was in the midst of finishing my syllabus for
a class I had to teach that night (first class of the semester); there is no
way that I could have concentrated adequately on my work with Ben undergoing
major surgery.  Bill went down to pick up Ben and he scheduled the surgery
for Friday.
 
Although there are many reasons to be optimistic, I'm still very worried.
This is a huge tumor, so huge that two doctors thought it was an enlarged
kidney.  The enormous size means it is most likely malignant, according to
Dr. Weiss.  The tumor is very vascular, so we'll bring one of our younger
ferrets as a potential blood donor.  On the positive side of the scale, Dr.
Weiss is an excellent surgeon, and Ben is otherwise in good health.  Jerry
was much sicker when Dr. Weiss operated on her and she came through.
 
A quick update on our other ferrets: Jerry has kidney failure and still has
to be hand-fed.  She had an episode of bleeding from her ulcers last
weekend, but it didn't last too long.  She still is interested in carrying
her plastic lids behind the sofa and going inside her miniature L.L.  Bean
tent.  Bridgett is almost completely back to normal after adrenal surgery
two weeks ago.  Jasmine became our first ferret in seven years to figure out
how to let herself out of the cage.  We have a three-story cage connected to
a two-story cage.  Bill made a tunnel between the cages with plumbing pipes
and adaptors.  Jasmine managed to pry them loose, letting herself and
Buttercup out.  Now that they know escape is possible, I'm afraid it's going
to be hard to keep them in.  So far, there have been no breakouts since Bill
reinforced the tunnel for the second time.  The first reinforcement didn't
stop her.
 
Please think about Ben on Friday.
 
Clare and Bill Sebok
 
Ben, Jerry, and Bridgett (the three patients)
Buttercup and Jasmine (the two healthy ones)
and Lupi the dog
[Posted in FML issue 1836]