From:
Kim@GarsideRealty.com
Date: 2004-12-13 09:17:00 UTC
Subject: lymphoma
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1060821.1102929420791.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
My 6 year old ferret boy Frankie has always been kind of slow acting, not n=
early as rowdy as my other guy Poncho. My guys both have IBD and have been=
on Imuran for over 2 years. Frankie put on weight and developed a little =
Buddha belly. =
For Thanksgiving I went out of town for two weeks leaving my guys with my f=
erret friend. Frank was looking very healthy. When I returned I was shock=
ed at how much weight Frankie had lost. He was skin and bones, rib, pelvis=
, legs and his vertebra were easily felt under his skin. Sometime during m=
y trip he had decided not to eat anymore. Since he has never adapted to ch=
ange well we thought he was just home sick. =
When he didn't perk up at home I took him to the vet earlier this week. Hi=
s lymph nodes in his neck, front underarms and one back leg were swollen. =
Since he was having stinky poops she thought it could possibly be an infect=
ion swelling the lymph nodes, but more than likely it was lymphoma. =
The vet took two x-rays; no cancer was evident in the areas that were visib=
le. For some reason his organs weren't showing up and he had gas in his in=
testines. =
She also did a full node biopsy that was sent out to a pathologist. On tha=
t day he was started on carafate, Little Tummies, baytril, amoxi. =
He seemed to perk up when he came home and was eating his A/D very well. W=
ell the results just came back, Frankie has high-grade lymphoma. I don't k=
now if it's my perception now that I know, but he seems more listless today=
. All he does is wake up long enough to take his meds and eat. He doesn't=
even want to play with his toys or Poncho. Now that I think about it he h=
asn't really played for a month or two.
Now what to do about treatment? I have read quite a bit on the Internet an=
d past FHL messages. I could have him put on high doses of pred and keep h=
im comfortable until it's time or I can do agressive chemo. I have been to=
ld, "high grade seems to respond better to chemotherapy than lower grades o=
f lymphoma, and ferrets seem to have minimal side effects from the chemo - =
mainly it can lower their white blood cell count. But we will be monitorin=
g that." =
I absolutely do not want him to be in pain. I don=92t want him to just exi=
st for the sake of making it easy on Poncho and me. By that I mean; not be=
ing his old self, not wanting to play, just awake long enough to take meds,=
just sleeping and being unhappy. =
With pred therapy, based on Frankie's advanced stage, number of nodes etc..=
.. =
about how long does he have=85
and what are the percentages for...... =
- worst case....
- average case....
- and best case? =
What kind of quality of life will he have? =
With chemo, and his same health parameters, =
- what percentages of ferrets actually go into remission? =
- What percentages of ferrets make it 6 months after the last treatment? =
=
- How many make it to a year? =
- What percentages have side effects? =
I need to decide quickly and hopefully answers to these questions will help=
me decide what to do. If you guys have any other inforation that can help=
I would really appreciate it.
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