Well, Gizmo, our poor little insulinomic fella witht he rolls in his
armpits, finally made it to the vet.  The diagnosis wasn't good.
Lymphoma. :-(
 
Now I need your help.  We have a choice of surgery or medicine.  We opted
away from surgery for his insulinoma & he has been doing great on
prednisone for nearly 3 years.  I don't know what to do now.
 
For the surgery, $350-450, to remove his spleen, which is enlarged (vet
says prob. tumor there) and his pancreatic tumors, then medication.
Otherwise aspiration of the lymph nodes (to see what we're dealing with)
and increased medication.
 
The problems: I am moving into a new apartment with increased rent (doesn't
allow fuzzies, but I'm sneaking him in).  Also the "co-owner" of Gizmo is
in danger of being laid-off.  Plus Giz was purchased "used" from a pet
store where the owners turned him in.  They assumed at the time that he
was 2-1/2 to 3 years old.  So we don't know how old Giz really is.
 
Vet said outlook 20 months with surgery, 1 year with meds.  The outlook was
similar when the insulinoma was diagnosed (boy, they were way off).
 
Please help!  I am completely frozen at this crossroads.  Feel free to
e-mail privately.
 
Aileen & Gizmo
[Posted in FML issue 2468]