From:
SanQuatre@aol.com
Date: 2002-05-28 10:14:00 UTC
Subject: Mystik insulinoma/adrenal, surgery?
Thank you to everyone who has responded about Mystik's situation. I am still
agitated with myself for not getting Mystik the care she needed sooner, but I
have come to accept things and I have learned from the experiences from the
last five days. I am now much more knowledgeable about ferret diseases and
what actions should be taken to treat them.
When a ferret with insulinoma is seizing a lot of sugar should not be given
to them until blood work is done to see if they actually have low blood
sugar. As in with Mystik's case if we had just kept giving her more sugar and
gotten her Proglycem she would have gone into a diabetic coma most likely and
died. When she was seizing she needed insulin, not more sugar and prednisone.
If/when Mystik needs prednisone again I will also be sure to give her the
pill form rather than the liquid which I just recently learned contains sugar
and alcohol. I will also look into vitamin/herbal treatment for adrenal
problems and Devil's Club for insulinoma ferrets.
Mystik is doing better now so I am happy about that of course. She is still
in the hospital now and will be at least until tomorrow when things need to
be decided. I didn't get to talk to the vet because they called my mom's
office rather than here. I am not sure why. But from what my mom told me she
is doing a lot better than last night because she is moving around and
squirmy like she used to be and she managed to pull out her IV once. So that
is good. When I went to see her last night she was somewhat responsive, but
basically just laid in the ICU cage. I tried not to but I couldn't help but
cry because it was just so sad to see her laying there with the bandages
around her neck and the IVs in her throat. I felt silly for crying because
she was just resting, she gave several little ferret sleepy sighs, but I just
couldn't help crying for her because she looked so fragile and tragic in a
way.
Since the Memorial Day weekend just got over with the regular ferret
vet finally got to look at Mystik today. They did ultrasound on her and he
said he didn't see anything, how was it put, "That indicated a red flag." So
he didn't see any dangerous tumors or anything, although I guess there could
still be some that can't be seen on ultra sound. He believed her liver was
enlarged due to her not eating enough and such. Since I heard all this from
my Mom and not the vet, I am not sure exactly what all was said, though. I
believe he said she needs surgery and that they want to try and do it
tomorrow so long as she is in good enough shape because she most likely has
adrenal tumors as well as her pancreas. I know I have read that pancreas
tumors along with adrenal tumors create erratic blood sugar levels. I believe
I will drive out there tonight and hopefully get the whole scoop on what the
vet thinks is best for her. It is hard to understand everything when you have
to go through someone to get information.
The surgeons at the [university] Veterinary Hospital, from what I understand,
are very knowledgeable about ferrets and the main vet who is taking care of
her seems very knowledgeable about them too, which is good. If the vet does
believe that she has adrenal gland problems as well as pancreas, surgery
would be the best/probably only solution, right? Since Mystik is 6 and one
month I know she is rather elderly and could not survive surgery, but I mean,
wouldn't it be best for her to have surgery and try as hard as possible to
give her more time rather than to medicate her and let her deteriorate more
quickly? I know many ferret guardians have to make such decisions over
whether or not to put the fer through surgery or not because there is always
a chance of death on the operating table, especially if the ferret is older.
I assume that the best solution for her would be surgery though, yes? No? The
vet didn't think that she has liver cancer, which is good, but she still
could.
I pray that I won't loose her anytime soon especially since I know it is
still a possibility, but things are looking a lot brighter than they did a
few days ago. If the vet recommends surgery over all, I would think that
would be the best way to go. I couldn't live with myself if I said no to
surgery and she would deteriorate again in a few weeks or days and pass away.
The vet said it was possible to get at least 4 months to another year with
the surgery, which I think would be much more promising than medication. Then
I don't know if medication is an option or not even now. I will have to talk
to the vet tonight and see what all is going on and everything. I am just
glad she is doing better now. I was afraid she may not have even recovered
from the seizures but they have stopped and she seems to be acting more like
her old self again.
I just hope poor old Mystik can pull through this and I hope her body and
spirit are both willing and able to. She hasn't given up so as long as she
won't then I won't. I know she can't live forever and one day her spirit will
be free to return to the universe and her body will have to return to the
earth. I know that time will come, as it does to every living thing, but I
just hope she can spend more time here because she is an older ferret but not
that old of a ferret. I am trying hard now to be optimistic for her and I
just hope everything goes well.
I am also worried about Meeko, though. He is showing signs of adrenal gland
problems with his thinning hair, bad flaky, crusty skin, and naked tail. He
acts just fine, but sometimes he does seem to have a bit of problems going to
the bathroom and I am not sure, but he may have been showing signs of "mating
behavior in an altered ferret." With all of Mystik's problems, though, and
her rather big medical bill, I do not know when we can get Meeko taken care
of. Me and my Mom both believe that he has adrenal gland disease, just hope
we can take care of him soon. I will not let him get as sickly as Mystik did,
for sure, though. If I'd known more about ferrets when I got Meeko and
Mystik, I would have probably just gotten Mystik and then another ferret
companion a couple years later so that they wouldn't be encountering health
problems at the same stage in life. But of course now I wouldn't go back in
time to "un-aquire" my Meeko man. Just in the future I will get ferrets of
different life stages (if I can help it) so they don't all become "old" at
once.
Sorry, I suppose I rambled some. Just, thank everyone for all the e-mails and
concern and help. If anyone can still add anything of course that will be
appreciated. Thank you again and I will post more once I get to talk to the
vet about what actions should be taken for Mystik.
-Kim/Quatre
"The wise arm themselves with knowledge, no matter how difficult, painful or
tragic it may be. Only the foolish hide behind the shield of ignorance."