I've been holding off giving the list the latest update on Slink hoping that
I will have something conclusive to say.  If you've been following the story,
you may recall that about a month ago Slink's feeding tube was removed leaving
her to fend for herself.  (A section of her esophagus is paralyzed thus she
chokes when she eats or drinks sending food into her lungs and giving her
pneumonia.)
 
Well, Slink is still having difficulty eating and her condition is very
unstable.  At one point about 2 weeks ago I decided it was time to put her
to sleep: the skin near her ribs was bruised from all the coughing and
sneezing, she had pretty high fever and her lungs were in terrible shape -
she was breathing 125 times a minute while asleep (she slept constantly).
It was hard to come to this decision because just one week prior to that she
was running around acting close to normal, but to look at her in this sorry
state left little choice as she was clearly sufferring.
 
Well, Dr. Rosenthal thought that a new antibiotic I was giving Slink might
take some time to work, so she convinced me to wait another day.  The next
day I took Slink to the Animal Medical Center.  I knew there was going to
be trouble when Slink woke up for a minute and looked at me with a "where
the heck are you taking me NOW?" look.  She was a little bit perkier than
she was the prior days and I finally ended up taking her to work with me
instead of putting her to sleep.
 
Two weeks after that flirtation with death her temperature is normal, her
skin is normal, and she is breathing 18 times a minute - exactly normal.
Talk about drastic changes!
 
Once she started feeling better she started eating like crazy.  This is
good, because she had lost a considerable amount of weight.  But, that
also means that quite a bit of food is getting into her lungs.  Her
breathing rate may be normal, but she makes *LOTS* of noise when she
breathes and it's getting worse.  It may be a matter of time till the
cycle repeats, but for now she is active, curious and playful.  I also
think that she might be eating a little more easily than before, so there
is still a chance that she improves further.
 
So, here we are in another holding pattern.  It's wait and see.  There is
another surgical procedure that can be tried (esophageal resection) but I
have not decided about that yet.  It's never been done in a ferret before
and all the doctors say they have no idea if it will work.  Heck, at least
they're honest.
 
Oh well, stay tuned for the next chapter of the ferret that won't give up.
 
Bill
 
[Posted in FML issue 0268]