5/24/96: Hi, It's Friday morning after Ruffle's Wednesday surgery.  She
didn't want to eat at the hospital so she came home with her catheter (She
had chewed through one IV line already so a tech was greeted by blood in the
cage.), and if she didn't eat or drink she'd be in and out of the hospital,
but almost as soon as we got in the door she devoured a quarter cup of
Sustical, followed later by more of the same, 2 raisins, about a quarter cup
of a mix of turkey baby food, Schiff's powdered brewer's yeast (the one
our's like the taste of), and Linatone with a touch of warm water, PLUS
eating Pro Plan and drinking a huge amount of water.  The catheter came out
this morning and she's very happy about that, as she is with the CD of the
Berrymans singing in the background (her favorite), and with getting to walk
a bit.  I would like to have her romp in the master bathroom, but we had a
half dozen large ants in there yesterday and today so I have to get rid of
that track first.  Right now she is wearing Ambush perfume (which totally
belongs to our ferrets) and romping (sort of) in the front bathroom (using
the barrier and tension rods that normally are in the back).
 
Most of the time we feel like we have too many towels, but once you need to
make ramps and change a lot of sick cage bedding you know there are never
enough.
 
There's some bruising because she is fussing with the post-operative itching
which naturally occurs with healing, but all in all she is acting like the
surgery was less painful and less stressful for her than the illness was.  (
For those who have not been around the block once or twice: most of us will
experience this ourselves at some point.) I'm glad Steve strongly insisted
that we try the surgery since I was afraid that it really might not be fair
to her with all her problems and since it really wasn't obvious going in
that the cyst really was decently operable.  Our compromise was that if it
became obvious during surgery that she was too bad to be helped and would
only have suffering then she would not come out of anesthesia.
 
We learned today that her adrenal tumor was very large.  Wish us luck with
the biopsies of the insulinomas, adrenal tumor, liver cyst, and accompanying
tissue.  She still has one liver lobe but it did not look like normal liver.
Still, that doesn't necessarily mean that it won't function just fine for a
reasonably long life.
 
She was under anesthesia longer than is usually preferred for a healthy,
younger ferret, let alone a six year old with heart disease, but that is
what she needed to get a clear shot, and if she had passed away it would
have been worth the risk since doing less would not have helped her.
 
She is on Enrofloxacin for a week.  For her heart she still has her Lasix
every other day, and her daily Enacard.  We are hoping that as we slowly
decrease her phenobarbital the seizures will not resume (If there is a
neurological neoplasm or epilepsy they will.), even though her grand mal
convulsions did not respond to sugar as insulinomas should.  (If you didn't
guess by now we have to keep charts with them when they are sick; that's the
only viable way to go.
 
5/30/96: Ruffle was well enough to tantrum 2 days ago, and is able to run
around the house in a mad dash.  Yesterday we got the great news that the
growths were all benign, but the bad news that the liver cyst was definitely
a type which might reoccur and threaten to kill her again.  (Insulinomas
also sometimes reoccur, but the cyst was the most immediate threat to her
survival.) Thank you SO much for the kind and reassuring notes.  Whether one
credits genes, magnificent vets with superb techs, GAFs, or whatever we're
just happy that our little girl is having a grand time!  We came so close to
not doing it, and who knows how many ferrets in such shape could have
survived?  We felt like we were throwing knives blindfolded in making our
choice.  Can you imagine a 6 year old with a bum heart and other problems
surviving such a complicated simultaneous surgery?  These critters
constantly amaze us with how tough they are.  Thank you for all the help,
and instructive comments on both sides of the decision.  Thanks also for
those who urged sleep when I became illogical.
 
If all goes well Ruffle's last phenobarbital day will be Monday.  A few days
after that, when we can be sure that she is out of the woods, I want to
FINALLY get the time to start a heart disease write-up for Pam, and (since I
have found the weight wire needed) I want to search out our stored light
weight casters, so that if they survived the water heater flood I can work
on a wheel chair for FOGGY.  (If not I'll have to find more.) DAYNA, would
this interest you?  I noticed you sew so you could make the slings for just
his measurements.  Feel free to check into us with BIG before sending your
FFZ mailing address.  Let us know whether you want one, please.
 
Just got off the phone with customer service of the Williams-Sonoma chain
(W-S, Gardener's Eden, etc.) having to ask them to remove us from their
mailing list, basically for the sake of our ferrets' health and our own
sanity.  For some reason unknown to anyone who has to unpack stuff they
still use that horrid gut-blocking styrofoam packing which is full of
static.  We have already spent over half an hour with tape, trying to clean
up the fly-aways which then cling to everything.  Tomorrow we'll have to buy
a static reducing spray and try again.  Then they include a "hey,idiot" note
which pretty much says "Don't complain that this garbage isn't recyclible
because you can now drive your trash to a packaging store".  Well, if I
wanted or was able to drive wouldn't I have driven for the purchase in the
first place instead of paying for shipping?  Maybe such companies need to
hear more from customers who want to protect babies, pets, reduce garbage
levels, etc.  Why can't they try recycled paper or starch pellets?
 
Meltdown and Ruffle are sleeping, and the other four are racing around
providing us with their clown circus routines.  How long will it take to get
a scatter of guilty ferrets?
 
              the Very-Happy-about-Ruffie Crandalls
 
172 Jamestown Rd.  Basking Ridge, N.J.  07920 ( BOB: 1 mile north toward
Bernards Township from exit 36 of Interstate 78, left at light onto Spring
Valley, 3rd left onto Jamestown, 2nd right into building 21 courtyard --
Yep, we live modestly to afford ferret surgeries ( and our own far future
retirement) and we're mighty proud of it!, 1-908-580-0506) Those with ferret
catalogs may use our address but not call, okay?
[Posted in FML issue 1586]