Hi there:
 
I've just become a subscriber to the FML again & I wanted to let you all
know about my little girl, Wompy.
 
Last Friday, she had a tumor throughout her one kidney & a little on her
liver.  The doctor removed the kidney & part of the contaminated liver
successfully & now she's doing better than ever.
 
Over the past month, Wompy had been having "spells," where she would space
out &, before you knew it, she'd be flat out on the floor unable to move.  I
thought it would be insulinoma.  Well, after taking her in to the doctor &
running some tests, her blood levels were fine, so we thought maybe she had
stomach ulcers.  So I took her home w/ some medicine & she was fine.
 
Until the medicine was gone.
 
She began having spells again within 3 days - & they came more often.  I was
getting pretty scared that I'd come home from work one day & find her dead.
So, I got back in touch w/ the doctor & we considered exploratory surgery -
rather than keep putting her through another regimen of medicine that may or
may not work.
 
Well, as it turns out, she's fine & as I said, the tumors have been
removed - & they are benign (Thank God).  And Wompers was up & playing the
next day.  As a matter of fact, she was so playful, I picked her up &
checked to make sure she was in fact operated on.  For a little animal who's
just had a kidney & part of her liver removed, she's spunkier than ever.  I
shutter to think about what could have happened if I'd waited any longer.
 
But I have one question:
 
What is the life expectancy of a ferret once they've had major surgery like
this?
 
Both Wompers & her big brother Pooper have had surgery (Pooper had an
adrenal gland removed when he was 2 yrs old).  And Wompy will be 3 yrs old
this summer.  Can they be expected to live at least 3 - 5 more yrs?  And can
they live a healthy life as they did before they became ill?  Also, I'd like
to know if there's anything else I should look for now that they've both had
surgery, other than the obvious checkup to make sure their kidneys & adrenal
glands are still ok.
 
I guess I just want to know if I should make any changes in the way I take
care of them, now that their little bodies have both been so traumatized.
Is there anything special I can do?  Other than love them more than ever...
 
     Thanks!
        Jeanette P. in VA
[Posted in FML issue 1586]