To Janice Underwood concerning V'orri:
 
        Actually, knowing that V'orri had a benign tumor of the adrenal gland is
sufficient information to make some comments about the case.
 
        There are three types of lesions in the adrenal, benign and malignant
tumors, and hyperplasias (which are non-neoplastic proliferations of the normal
cells of the adrenal gland.)  The hyperplasias and benign tumors both act the
same, essentially, while the malignant tumors are the "bad actors" in the group.
 These are the ones that may metastasize, or grow to a very large4 size and even
occasionally rupture, causing massive intra-abdominal hemorhhage.
 
        But the success rate following adenoma removal is high.  Of course, a
lesion may arise in the other adrenal, but for the most part, these animals go
on to regrow their hair, and live a normal life.  They do just fine on one
adrenal.
 
        Best of luck to you and V'orri.
 
 
 
 
To all FMLers:
 
        Just a reminder:  I will be out of touch from 2/25-3/7 off the coast of
California surveying marine mammal populations.  Keep the posts coming - I'll
answer them all when I get back.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM
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[Posted in FML issue 0739]