Shelley: I've sort of been out of the loop of the FML recently, so I don't know what ages were posted regarding survival times after surgery for insulinoma. I can tell you in my case, my ferret Ian survived almost two years after his first surgery and 8 mos. after his *second*. After his second surgery I knew we were fighting a losing battle and took him off all meds (he *hated* pred) to let him go with dignity. After the original surgery I had him on pred and checked his blood sugar every month. I'm not sure about survival times without surgery. I know that while surgery can be pretty scary at times, it's more likely to *solve* the problem for a while than the meds -- they just *treat* it. The one thing about insulinoma is it always comes back. If your friend's ferret is a good candidate for surgery (her vet should be able to determine this) then I would definitely do it, even though your own experience wasn't that great. Amy, Dave & Sarah (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets) RIP Ian and Elektra [Posted in FML issue 2074]