My beautiful ferret, Esperanza, is in the hospital with a very bad case
of lymphoma.  The vet did a biopsy and said all of the lymph nodes in her
abdomen were swollen and she had a lot of blood in her abdomen from the
tumors.  She was in the hospital all night last night and she is there
again tonight receiving fluids via an IV.  I brought her some duck soup
today and she only ate a little.  She is very tired, although she is alert
when I come to visit and she gets up and wants to be active.
 
Some of you, I'm sure, remember Esperanza.  Dr. Williams put a picture of
her on his home page several years ago along with those of Belle Iroff and
Doofus, the homecoming king of Rice University.
 
I am beginning to wonder if lymphoma is contagious.  I've read that some
researchers think cancer is caused by a virus.  Three of my girls have had
it now, all in their later years (as in five to seven years of age).  Espie
is about 6.
 
My first ferret to have this disease, Frankie, died a couple of years ago.
She showed no sign of being ill until 10 or 15 minutes before she died.
Angel was positively diagnosed with lymphoma a month or two ago, although
one of our vets suspected she had it a year or two ago when her lymph nodes
were swollen but test results were inconclusive.  Angel has been doing much
better as long as she's on prednisone.  Esperanza showed no sign of being
ill until a couple of days ago, when I noticed the two boy ferrets sniffing
her rear end, which so far I had only see them do with Angel.  I knew she
was not feeling well later that evening when she let me hold her for a long
time; the only other time Espie let me do that (other than when she was
sleeping or if I refused to let her down) was when she was less than a year
old and her life was in danger after she had swallowed a large piece of
very hard rubber that had become lodged in her small intestine and she
could neither drink, eat, vomit, or go to the bathroom.  That was one of
the longest nights of my life.
 
I love Espie very much.  I'll never forget the time Dr. Williams told me
that she needed me when I was so sad about losing my first ferret, C-pi.
He was right -- Esperanza was depressed for two or three months after that.
She has always been an inspiration to others when they ask me about my
ferrets and I show them her picture and tell them her name.  Everyone loves
her name -- it is so beautiful.
 
Please pray for her and for me. Thanks.
 
Linda, Esperanza, Lucky Charm, Angel, Zipper, and Chocolate Moose
[Posted in FML issue 2671]