yesterday I wrote:
>The mysterious lumps in his abdomen had disappeared since the ultrasound
>three weeks ago, but the vet biopsied a couple of lymph nodes just to be
>safe.  They also biopsied his pancreas, since they do that as a matter of
>course whenever doing surgery on older ferrets.
 
Well, the results came back already.  Lymphoma and islet cell tumors.
There were also signs of the lymphoma in Cully's pancreas and the removed
adrenal, so it is starting in on the other organs.  Guess I was a little
too optimistic too soon... when it rains, it pours.  We're starting
prednisone now, and I'm going to be talking with the vet again to discuss
any other treatment options.  I feel horrible thinking that the poor guy
has been walking around with four different kinds of cancer in him (mast
cell, adrenal, lymphoma, and islet cell), but after sitting all morning
with Hillyer and Quesenberry it seems like there really weren't many
clinical signs for me to spot apart from the ones I did spot (difficulty
urinating, very thirsty, a little hind limb weakness upon waking up).
For now, he's not showing any outward sign of the other cancers; he's
recovering nicely from the adrenal surgery, although he's already clearly
bored bored bored with being caged.  I guess now he's proof that an older
ferret with lymphoma and insulinoma in otherwise healthy shape is a good
adrenal surgery candidate :-\
 
It is so hard not knowing why these things happen, or what one could have
done better to prevent them.  To some extent, things were out of my hands
with Cully, since the first three years of his life are a big question
mark, and I think I've done the best I can for my ferrets, but I still
wish, well, I guess basically I wish this weren't happening and that I
could go back in time and make things different for him.  I feel like I'm
already saying goodbye, and I don't want to feel like that while he's
alive.  I love this big ferret and just feel so protective of him.  He's a
big old earnest lunkhead who genuinely likes people although he'll always
try to be the boss of everyone, despite being 2.5 pounds.  We'll do
everything we can to make him happy and painfree and make him know how
much he's loved.
 
Hugs for everybody's ferrets,
Regina
 
"I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses..."
                                                -- Nick Cave
Regina Harrison
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http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083
[Posted in FML issue 2773]