hey friends, that brave anomaly of a little clown is over the Bridge.
 
Emmett collapsed last Saturday, was rushed to the vet, diagnosed with
insulinoma, and scheduled for surgery yesterday.
 
I thought the vet might possibly find adrenal lesions as well as pancreatic
tumors, but I was totally unprepared for his discovery, and so was he.
 
Em did have insulinomas--bigtime--which had already metastasized to his
liver, leaving only one lobe clear; and he also had some internal bleeding.
 
Of course right away I had a brief shining moment of madness--I would save
him! I would cure him! I would pulverize his TF-Sr and make both Timmy's
Recipe and LUMPS--I would carry him in a Snuggly every where I went, and by
golly I would fix him up. . .
 
guys, this was too serious, it couldn't have been done.  My first ferret,
Shasta, had insulinoma years ago (along with being both hypo-thyroid and
blind) and I kept her going for a long time.  .  .but let me tell you that
her seizures were NOTHING like what happened to Emmett last weekend.
 
I had the magic power to bring her out of hers; the vet had to administer
syrup THREE TIMES before Emmett began to come around--and I think he must
have had some internal pain, because when we touched his tummy, he screamed.
 
I had never heard him scream before. It is a heart-breaking, bone-chilling,
blood-curdling sound.
 
Please don't flame.  I had to let him leave.  I held him and cuddled him and
praised him and thanked him and all that, and held him up to the window and
showed him the clouds, and told him there were stars, and suns, and planets,
and worlds, and galaxies out there just waiting for him to explore them...
and then, with tears in our eyes, the vet and I set him free.
 
Seven good years of friendship and joy--the best little clown in creation;
how I miss him, how blessed I was to have been chosen by him, when he was
just a baby, to be his adopted mom. . .wait for me, my "l'il bub," I will
always, always love you!
 
Thank you all for being such a super list.  Hug all your little fuzzbeans
specially from me, okay?
 
Kate
[Posted in FML issue 2258]