From:
courtney.leborious@aoltw.com
Date: 2003-06-18 19:34:41 UTC
Subject: Swollen lymph / neck area
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1233798.1055964881944.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Hi,
I appreciate any help you can provide. My baby girl, Cola, is about 5 years old. She has swollen pockets on either side of her neck, which vary in their rigidity - some days they are smaller and smoother, other days very swollen and hard. They are very noticable when bathing. Recently, she has showed signs of (i think) difficulty breathing. I thought of heart/cardiomyopathy, other organ disfunction, complicatons of insulinoma, lymphoma. just not sure. In all, she is still pretty high energy and eats just fine.
Brief history:
She was diagnosed back in November with a very mildly symptomatic insulinoma. She had very slight foot drag. She tested in upper 90s in November and March for glucose) I am very cautious about medicating, and my vet provided dosage of .01 ml (4 mg/ml solution). Just two droplets/day. At that time, my vet said her little pockets could be swollen lymph nodes, but he thought it likely that they were fat. He did not want to biopsy at that time. She had gained a bit of weight, but has maintained a healthy weight for her lifespan.
Recently:
About 6 days ago, she woke me up with a severe coughing fit. Like she couldn't get air. It stopped after about 1 minute, but then she was breathing rapidly. Since then, she usually breathes normally (about 40 per minute) but at times can breathe as rapidly as 90 per minute. She also makes this little gasp noice as she is eating, like expelling air, and a glug sort of sound.
I took her back to the vet on Saturday. He checked out her lymph nodes, but again, did not want to biopsy. She did not have a temperature, was bright and looked good in general. He x-rayed and said her heart and spleen both looked good, normal size. He also checked her glucose, and she was down to 67. Meaning its insulinoma for sure. He really upped her dosage -- to .10 mls, 2 X per day. The other blood work is due back tonight, but I got a message from him and he said everything looked good. Will get detail tonight.
I am so worried about my baby, though. Any thoughts? Should I have her throat biopsied? Anything else anyone can think of. Her heart looks good, she has energy. What else could be causing the throat swelling? The rapid breathing or coughing? DO you think they're related. Any help very very much appreciated -- she is my baby doll.