From:
TR1212@aol.com
Date: 2002-11-12 17:56:27 UTC
Subject: Re: Help with insulinoma
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <12f.1afbddd3.2b029acb@aol.com>
Dear friends,
We have a little boy who went through surgery for insulinoma a little over a
year ago. It didn't help much. BG at 54 shortly after. About 6 months ago we
put him on 1/4 of a 5mg tab of pred 2x a day. Sunday he had a seizure. Had
never had one before. He went completely limp. I honestly thought he was
dead. Had gotten a little karo into his mouth before his teeth clamped
completely shut. I put more into the side of his mouth and some seconds later
he took a quick little breath then opened his eyes and acted fine. Wanted to
get up and walk around. I took him to the Dr. and he uped the pred dose to
1/2 tab 2x a day. My questions. If I'm not mistaken, pred can be hard on the
kidneys. Do I know if we have a problem simply by having bloodwork done
periodically or are there other symptoms to watch for. Which reminds me. Each
time I take him to the vet whoever is examining him mentions that his bladder
is huge. Also, I have noticed that he dribbles occasionally after he pees.
Could there be a problem or is this normal? We had blodowork, a sonogram and
x-rays done two months ago. I can''t remember what the Dr. said about his
kidney values and the one who did this work is out of town until Thusday.
Obviously she wasn't too concerned about them or we would have been doing
something about that too. For some reason I think they might have been
slightly elevated but don't honestly remember. Next, this morning I noticed
him rubbing his paws up behind the backs of his ears. I think I also read
that pred can cause ulcers. Uped the dose yesterday. Does the pawing behind
the back of the ears indicate an upset stomach or do they typically run them
down their face when that's the problem? How do I know when or if I should
start him on carafate? Do I need the anitbiotics then too? And lastly. Would
you do another surgery for insulinoma? He did well with his last one and I'm
thinking that if it could prolong the use of the meds, or at least higher
doses, maybe this is the way to go. I hate making these decisions and they
keep me up at night!! I would appreciate your opinions. You always help me
trememdously.
Thanks so much.
Sincerely,
Tiffany, Slinky, Cindy and the one I'm asking about, Oscar