Thank you for remembering and asking Mike. I have been out of touch
only because we are giving 24/7 care to our little Blizzard. He has
gone from bad to worse as his kidney blood numbers continue to rise. He
is now almost totally unresponsive, not eating or drinking on his own.
His body is like a marionette puppet. We are giving him 4 medications
(although we haven't gotten down tonight's medicine as even when we
get it in his mouth via syringe he doesn't swallow anymore.) One of
his feet just started swelling up and a friend is coming over tonight
to show us how to express his bladder as he is no longer going to the
bathroom. Speaking of syringe, we are also now giving him sub-q fluids.

None of these things are helping! We have gone through many tears and
thousands of kisses and he sinks deeper and deeper away from us.

Thank G-d my wife and I both work at home as someone is always watching
him day and night. If we are overly exhausted, I cannot imagine how
little Blizzard is feeling both mentally and physically as his body
fills with his own toxins.

We go back to the doctor (we hope) on Friday to get his stitches out
and I'm sure to get another blood test to check his kidney levels. But
medicine seems to so far to be failing him.

We do not know what more to do. I have discussed with some friends last
evening about getting a blood transfusion or a kidney transplant of one
kidney (to not kill the donor ferret). We spoke to the doctor today
(Dr. Wardell and Dr. Kawasaki), those two ideas will not work. We have
some friends coming over tonight that will hopefully be able to spell
us for a couple of hours so we may sleep, and show us how to express
his bladder.

Blizzard is our first and only ferret. We are scared. I tip my hat to
so many of you who have gone through this before-multiple time! I do
not know how you can do that. You are all my heroes. It is clear I am
not strong enough to handle what is happening and what we are putting
little Blizzard through.

I know you have given your energies and prayed for our little man to
get through his surgery. It is my hope that you may have some energies
left to help him through his kidney failure and "kick-start" his
kidneys again to get out the toxins in his body as I know we should
have many healthy years together yet hiking, swimming, snowshoeing,
going to festivals, shopping, playing, etc. etc.

Thank you all, without whom he never would have made it this far.

Mark Sonder, CSEP
Chief Entertainment Officer
Mark Sonder Productions, Inc.
540-636-1640
<http://www.marksonderproductions.com>
author, "Event Entertainment and Production" (Wiley 2004)

[Posted in FML 6055]