Hello John, and everyone.
 
>My reason for posting is to find out more about partial pancreatomies.
>I've read up on the online sources that describe the procedure itself,
>but now I'd like to hear some personal experiences (good and bad) from
>people who've gone this route with their ferrets.
 
My Sammy developed insulinoma before his fifth birthday.  At first we
tried a nodulectomy, just removing the obvious nodules from his pancreas,
but it didn't help him.  I started him on supplemental feedings, then
meds when that wasn't enough, then more meds.  It became harder and
harder to keep him from having attacks, so a year after his first surgery
we did a partial pancreatectomy.  The vet removed about 1/3 of his
pancreas where the nodules seemed to be clustered.  The result was
miraculous.  Sammy's BG bounced back up to 100, completely normal (it
had gotten as low as 25 before).  He lived to 7 years 4 months, 1.5 years
after his second surgery, and his insulinoma never returned.
 
I realize results aren't usually so dramatic, but it sure worked for
Sammy.
 
One more thing, you mention Valentine also has adrenal.  If he's having
surgery anyway you might want the diseased adrenal gland removed as well,
assuming it's operable.  Of course you want an experienced ferret surgeon
doing all this.  My vet's been doing surgeries almost daily for decades
so I trust him putting my guys under the knife.
 
Good luck with your little guy.
 
--
John Rosloot, Caregiver to Pandora and Tommy
With loving memories of my Big Buster Boy
my dear departed Buddy,
my precious little Cassie-angel,
and my Silly Snuggly Sammy
http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~rosloot/ferrets
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 5254]