From:
Steve Austin
Date: 2002-06-30 15:43:00 UTC
Subject: Exploratory Surgery Advice Needed
I have had 5 ferrets through surgery, one was adrenal
and the spleen removed at that time, one was
soley insulinoma surgery- so far doing well med free
for 8 months- still chance of recurrence is always there.
Next had bilateral adrenal removal, needs hormone
replacement and sometimes carafate when his stomach
is sore. He is fine.
Next are two that both went in for adrenal, one had
insulinoma tumor removed that was apparently asymptomatic,
and the other developed a low blood sugar about a week
before the surgery for adrenal, I put her on prednisone and
she did very well, tapered the pred and is med free and post-op about 4
months
She could have the other adrenal become diseased
or a recurrence of the insulinoma.
I just was posting all of that to show you that it is not
uncommon to have more than one tumor, and that
for me surgery worked out well for all involved, even
if they have a recurrence, I am happy for the time they
have that is disease free. I would say that for the next
week keep an eye on the blood sugar and make sure
she eats well and even supplement with some chicken
gravy or meat baby food- I would be worried about
fasting too long before surgery seeing as the blood
sugars may be running low, ask your vet about this-
or if you can start pred for the week only?
I think that the perioperative and postoperative
care is very important, besides the warming, and IV
I believe the insulinoma ones need a little glucose
in their IV and after need to check the glucose levels,
one of mine went pretty high the day after surgery
and then steadily came down to normal
Patty
> She has not started on any meds for the insulinoma, as the vet wants
> to do the surgery first. Silky is a little girl, about 1 1/2 pounds.
> She was very active and has slowed down quite a bit since the low
> blood sugar started about 6 weeks ago. The bottom line is that I am
> scared to death. The vet says she will remove the adrenals if they
> are diseased, and remove whatever she can from her pancreas to
> relieve the insulinoma. In all of your ferret experiences, is this
> surgery the way to go, or should I just suggest that we start her on
> pred to combat the insulinoma? I hate to put such a sweet, small
> little girl through such a traumatic surgery if it won't really give
> her extended quality of life vs. medications. PLEASE HELP! I am so
> conflicted.
>
> All the best to you and your fuzzy ones,
>
> Shelby, Taz & Silky Bear
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