From:
Shortley, Lisa
Date: 2001-04-04 06:41:00 UTC
Subject: islet cell carcinoma
Hello -
I have a 4 1/2 year old ferret who started showing signs of
insolumnoma in December/January. He had what appeared to be a
stroke two weeks ago which has left him blind.
He went in for insolumnoma surgery last Friday and my vet
found two dime sized growths on his pancreas and a very large
adrenal tumor.
She cryosurgeried the adrenal tumor off and cut the masses off
of Sterling's pancreas. She said that they were really ugly
and she didn't know quite what they were and recommended
sending them to pathology. Of course, this was fine with me.
She called me yesterday with the pathology report. Islet cell
carcinoma. One of the growths was actually Sterling's entire
pancreatic lymphnode. It had metacized onto his pancreas
(which created the second tumor). She said that they were so
big and so close together, she originally thought they were
both from his pancreas.
Obviously, this was not the results I had hoped for. She said
prognosis could be as great as 18 months, it just depends on
how quickly they regrow. She said that there are more than
likely a number of microscopic tumors remaining that she
couldn't see and couldn't remove that will eventually grow.
I'm upset and scared for him. Can anyone please tell me if
they've had any type of experience with this kind of cancer,
send me a website, or resource to read more about it, give me
an idea of what to expect on these upcoming months, and let me
know the likelihood of him being okay and comfortable? Is
there any chance that she removed all of the cancer from him
or am I just really hoping too much? Also, is this a form of
lymphoma?
He seems to be recovering well from his surgery and is perking
up more and more each time I feed him/let him out to play. He
still seems very weak and his back legs are still a little
wobbly from everything he's been through these past couple
weeks. Please help...
Thanks so much,
Lisa Shortley