Heather, perhaps your vet can stop having the perplexing crashes by
running sodium:potassium ratios and check hydration after the surgeries.
Sometimes there is not enough gland left to supply needed adrenal
hormones, and sometimes what is left is atrophied (sometimes permanently
and sometimes temporarily).  Go the archives of the FML and the FHL and
look into a pot of Dr. Karen Purcell's for how she times these tests.
Florinef or Proscar (If I recall the second med right.) can replace one
type of missing hormone which controls the sodium;potassium ratio, and
Prednisone is among the options (by far the most used one) for replacing
what is needed to help control hydration.  She may bounce back now, or
she may need Pred for a longer term, or (if the electrolyte balance is
off she may also need Florinef or the alternative.  Hope this helps!
 
Re: chromium: this element (found in things like Brewer's Yeast) is
useful when diabetes is present but is the OPPOSITE of what is needed
when insulinoma is present, so avoid adding it if a ferret has insulinoma.
 
Melatonin: among the things that info can be found on by suing the
archives of the Ferret Health list.
 
>Tell him 'Good bye' and get another vet.  Yes, sugar is bad for an
>insulinomic ferret.  I have a ferret on pediapred and supplement her
>diet with the well known gravy and she is doing great.
 
Well, yes and no.  It's still in the category of hypotheses no matter if
you give sugars or withhold them (This one being that sugar stresses the
pancreas and causes extra insulin to be produced if disease is present.).
There is useful *****new info***** from vet, Bruce Williams (pers. com.)
that ferrets' insulinomae are NOT sugar-responsive in output, so a ferret
that has an advanced case (which her's may have, given the reading of 37)
may already have had the normal tissue atrophied thanks to the high
insulin output of the tumors, and therefore the sugar will not have bad
effects for advanced cases of insulinoma, though it might still be best
to be on the safe side and avoid it for early cases of insulinoma.  Hope
that helps!  We all get to learn on an on-going basis.  Personally, if I
were in her shoes I'd have blood-insulin levels done before and after
sugar intake to see if there still is a responsive aspect, but at 37
there's a good chance of not having that so then sugar would not hurt and
may be useful in conjunction with meds.  Think I'd try some Poglycem
(Diazoxide) along with Pred, though.  (BTW, I am not a vet, just a very
long-time -- 20 years -- ferret person who is very plugged into the
ferret health stuff going on.)
 
>I got the United test results back today, all 30 are neg.  I'm so
>relieved!  A huge thank you to all of you that donated to SOS or the
>shelter
 
Congratulations!
 
When lethargic (esp.  if older) also check for cardiomyopathy to be
safest.
 
Sukie
for health info:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-List
http://geocities.com/sukieslist
Having some Spring tree pollen asthma so hope I make enough sense for you
all.
[Posted in FML issue 3738]