From:
rumtum99@sympatico.ca
Date: 2001-05-20 10:58:00 UTC
Subject: Woolf and lymphosarcoma
My ferret, Woolf, has had adrenal gland tumors since she was a year
old and is now 6. She has had 3 surgeries for this. Just before
Christmas she developed insulinoma and in the last few months has
also developed lymphosarcoma. A few weeks ago she developed
intermittant breathing problems and last week it was more constant.
She is abdominally breathing and every so often she goes through
sessions of gasping for breath. These can last up to 20 minutes and
then pass. On Wednesday she had x-rays done. There is a lymph node
in her chest that is so big and appears to be compromising her
breathing. We talked about doing chemo and my vet was going to look
into it, she was also given a shot of lasix to see if it would help
her at all. A couple of hours after I got her home she was dragging
her hind feet. I immediately thought of her blood glucose, so rushed
her back and her blood glucose was taken. It was 4.3 mmol/L, so that
was not the problem (for her at this point it is very good). She was
given an injection of prednisone, she is also on 2.5 mg of pred. BID.
On Friday we started chemo. I'm pretty sure that it was
vincristine. At first Woolf was suppose to spend the weekend (it is
a long weekend in Canada), but then it was decided that she would do
better at home. She is syringe fed, so this also would have made it
more difficult. She does not seem to be having any adverse reactions
to the chemo, but her breathing is still awful. My vet had said that
if the chemo did not kill her her lymph nodes should go down in 2 to
3 days, which should hopefully mean if the one in her chest went done
she would have an easier time. Her outside ones (neck, legs, arms)
are still huge. She woke me up again this morning with her breathing
and was just having problems walking. I don't want to put her down,
but if the chemo does not help her breathing I think that I will have
to. I don't know if it will take more time and do not know how much
more she can take. She is scheduled for blood tests on wednesday and
chemo at the end of the week if all goes well. I am going to see if
I can meet my vet in the clinic tomorrow.(The clinic is not
technically open, but the vets are in and out on holidays and will
return calls) The vet who is on today would help me, but because it
does not appear to be a problem with the chemo I want to talk to my
vet who is the ferret vet. If anyone knows if it just takes a bit
more time then I know Woolf is a fighter, but do not want to drag on
her suffering too long. I hate decisions like this.