Hi all,
Well, this is kinda odd.  I"m replying to my own post.  Truth is I sent
this a while back but it only got posted now.  Not sure why, but I've since
talked to Dr. Weiss so I thought I'd share the information.  Apparently Dr.
Weiss has done a little over 30 apparently complete bilaterasl in the last
4 months.  I say 'apparent' because Dr. Weiss said only time will tell if
indeed *all* the tissue was removed.  The ferrets do indeed need to be
maintained on pred and fluorinef for life and there can a bit of an
adjustment time with some side effects while finding the right dosages but
nothing serious or life-threatening as far as I can tell.  It sounds very
promising.
 
Interestingly, Dr. Weiss has found that in the past, BC, before cryosurgery
(hehe) recurrences for subtotal bilaterals were only about 15%.  I was
expecting it to be higher but apparently it's that low (depending of course
on the surgeon, the type of tumor, etc.).
 
On the surgical front, the girls won't be having surgery here till Nov 29th
due to the days the surgeon is on and the various holiday's where there
will be little staff.  I know the girls can hold up but I've been a nervous
wreck.  I'll be glad to finally have this behind us, though I'm not
rushing.
 
Great news with Bugsy.  We retested his blood glucose and it was NORMAL =
85~!! woo :)) .  This stands as another lesson in making sure that blood
glucose test are done WITHIN 4-6 hours.  Bugsy's first test got delayed so
long it was probably at least 12 hours after he had eaten so he ended up
with a BG of 60!  This is such a relief.
 
Unfortunately, I have this sneakin suspicion Walter, my sweet gentle deaf
boy (my lil flower child of a ferret), might be heading down adrenal
avenue.  I hope I"m wrong.  I hope it's just that all the fat he put on
this winter is spreading his skin so think his coat is being pulled apart
at the seams!  hehe.  (he gains like 40% of his body weight in the
winter...looks like he has a michelin tire inside his belly lol -but boy
can he move).
 
Thanks to everyone for your responses to my questions and your support,
past and present.
 
Oh and one more piece of good news.  Another vet student in my class who is
a ferret lover has been recruited.  She was thrilled to hear about this
mailing list along with the adrenal/insul.  and cardio lists and will be
joining shortly :).
 
Meesh and the gang
Bugsy, Whitey, Mighty Mouse and Walter
(and Spikey in our hearts forever)
 
Michaela Maurice
College of Veterinary Medicine
Ohio State University
Class of 2002
[Posted in FML issue 2860]