Hi everyone,
 
Some of you may remember my post a little over a month ago asking for
advice on what medical steps to take for my ferret Sneezers who had
Lymphoma.  Well, after thinking a great deal about what to do, my fiance
Erich and I decided to put her through surgery and chemo.  She came through
the surgery great....no problems.  I started giving her homeopathic
medication (Ester C and Pau D' Arco) and this seemed to help her energy
level stay up.  She had her first dose of chemotherapy on December 22.  She
did great.  NO SIGNS OF ILLNESS.  She seemed happier and healthier than
ever before.
 
On December 29, one week later, she had the 2nd dose of chemo.  When I
picked her up that night the vet said her white blood cell count was low
and that if it was still low next week, she would wait to do the next dose
of chemo.  The next day Sneezers was running a fever of 106 degrees.  my
fiance took her to the vet because I was at work, and they gave her fluids
and brought her fever down.  Later that night she started vomiting and
acting very strange.  Her temperature was still a little high (103.4) but
I was more concerned about the way she was acting.  She was crying and
screaming and would fall asleep standing up.  I called the vet at midnight
and asked her to meet me at the hospital.  When we got there she gave
Sneezers Sub Q fluids, a shot of tagament to settle her stomach and a shot
of amoxicillian to help any infection she may have.  The paw that they had
the catheter in during chemo was swollen, being almost 3 times the size of
normal.  The vet offered to take Sneezers home with her to keep an eye on
her and her fever over night.  I said that was fine and I went home without
my baby!
 
The next morning (at 7am) the phone rang.  It was the vet and she said
Sneezers was in respiratory arrest and that she was crashing.  When Erich
and I got the clinic 15 minutes later, Sneezers was barely breathing on her
own.  The vet said she was having a sever reaction to the chemo and had
been unconscious for quite a while.  She told us that is Sneezers was able
to pull through she would most defiantly be brain damaged.  Because we knew
Sneezers would only continue to suffer from cancer and brain damage if kept
alive, we decided to put her to sleep!
 
I cannot explain how miserable I feel.  I am lost without her.  I am angry,
depressed, and probably feeling ever other emotion possible.  Why was I not
warned this could happen?  If the vet would have said this was a possibility
I would have thought twice about having the chemo done!
 
Please excuse if this letter has many grammar and spelling errors.  I do
not want to proofread for fear that I will lose control of my emotions
again.  As a ferret club president, I talk to members every week that have
had ferrets die.  It greatly upsets me to hear their stories.  However,
from now on I think they will upset me more because I have been through
it.  I cannot stop crying and thinking "what if"!!!!!!  If anyone has any
suggestion about how to get through this, please help me.  My other ferrets
are depressed as well and I am at a loss.
 
I hope my story will make people think twice about putting their ferrets
through chemo.  If the cancer alone doesn't kill them, the chemo probably
will!
 
Samantha Rosier
President
Club Ferret Las Vegas
[Posted in FML issue 2543]