Hi to all.

First and foremost - let me say I have been in/out of town so much my
head is spinning in little circles......I wanted to thank everyone for
the New Years resolutions that were sent to my fuzzy kids and me. I
admit that I am a horrid, dasterdly woman - who didn't have enough time
to respond to each of you, so I am doing a "global" thank you to all of
you now!! Contracting out of state gets tiring - and it gets hard to
keep track of things like this, so please accept my apologies to those
who did not receive a list from my kids. Having said all that - now, an
update on Ricky. Most of you remember Ricky as Helena's cage mate bud.
He has just reached his 7th birthday - and on top of the adrenal he was
diagnosed with (controlled by melatonin implants) - he was diagnosed
yesterday with Insuloma.

We couldn't figure out why after his 2nd implant - he wasn't
"coming back" like he usually does. He was staying super thin, but
eating/drinking like a horse. About a week ago - I noticed a humungeous
lump in his tummy. Then I noticed the telltale "bruised" look goin on -
and guessed acurately, that it was his spleen. We are not sure as to
why it is so big, but it is. I also noticed that when he was walking
around, on the kitchen tiles and the pergo flooring, he was kind of
staggering a little bit. At first I thought it was because the floors
are so slippery - but then my blonde roots got out of the way and I
realized that none of the other ferrets were having problems walking
on it - and figured it was time to go see doc Levinson, just to check
and see what else might be going on. We had doc do another xray for
comparison to what we saw last year, of his whole torso (for the spleen
issue). I get anally retentive nowadays, as I want to make sure I don't
miss ANYTHING like we did with Helena. My vet is fabulous, and he
humors me (most times without charging) when it comes to the xrays
and such. From last year at this time, til now - his spleen has grown
some - but not astronomically. He suggested that we get some blood and
check his sugar level - and guess what? His sugar was at 52.A wee bit
too low there, and it appears to us all that he is insulomic. So now we
are going to try pred for a while - get him built back up and healthy,
so that we can do our adrenal surgery. We're happy that Ricky has come
along so well - and we want to make sure that he is at optimum health
before attempting surgery. As he is older - the healthier he is - the
better the chances of him coming thru surgery well. When he started
"thinning out" for the second time (pre-2nd implant) - I began
supplementing what he was eating, with soft Science Diet A/D. He
absolutely loves it. So - now with the pred on board, and the "extra"
calories we are adding - I'm hopin things will level back out again
soon!!? Ricky is my quiet, sensitive, stoic little man, who never
complains. If he's gonna work so hard at eating/drinking - I am gonna
work just as hard to make sure that he gets what he needs!! Any advice
and/or tips would be greatly appreciated!?

Kim and Her Army of Idiots

Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, and not greedy for what
I want.....

[Posted in FML 5902]