From:
mellisa@robandmellisa.com
Date: 2004-06-17 05:55:01 UTC
Subject: Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) - Survivors? Death?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4465795.1087451701351.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
It has been a very rough few days. If anyone could share their experiences with ferrets (or even other pets) diagnosed with DIC, I would be most appreciative. I have yet to read of any survivors, and I realize the chances of my Boo being able to pull through illness are slim at best. It would be such a great source of comfort to hear of anyone that has been through this; even negative outcomes would help me understand what to expect.
Boo was found gasping for breath when we let her out for playtime last Sunday evening. Thanks to hours of care under the staff at the emergency clinic, she was stabilized by morning. It broke my heart to hear she was diagnosed with Insulinoma.
By the time I transported Boo to her normal vet (specializes in ferrets) Monday morning, her glucose levels had bottomed out again. She was barely reactive and almost in a listless state within an hour. She was stabilized again and taken to immediate surgery as soon as all her stats were brought up to an acceptable range. Other than her glucose levels, her blood work looked fine before and after the surgery. A tumor the size of an apple seed was removed from her pancreas.
She could barely even hold her head up Monday evening, and slept constantly. I was able only to get her to take very minimal portions of baby food and ferretone. I noticed a small purple outline of bruising appear around the incision. She also had some bruising along the top of her bandage that was holding her iv in place.
Tuesday morning, the bruising outlines had spread just a tiny bit. I arrived with Boo first thing when the clinic opened for her follow-up exam and left her for monitoring/tests throughout the day. She was started on Heparin. I was called back to the clinic to have a discussion with her vet. Boo was diagnosed with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation.
Within hours, the bruising around her incision had spread to partially cover her entire tummy. I was informed her Pancreas was swollen and her red blood cell count had dropped dramatically. I understood that she was in a very probable danger of death, but decided to at least wait it out a few hours and see how she responded. I considered having her euthanized, before even reading up on this horrific illness. When I later picked her up for the evening, I did not honestly expect her to live through the night. Her vet gave me his cell number, and I figured it may only be a matter of hours.
She was hand fed every 2-3 hours and averaged about 20 ml per feeding of a mix of 60% protein baby food/gatorade/ferretone/mushed up ferret food. I spent all night reading up on this disorder, crying, and regretting my decision to continue treatment. I have yet to hear a survival account in a ferret. I was ready to just let her go this morning; I wanted her to leave this world without experiencing the awful bleeding from orifices associated with the end stages of this disorder. I love her too dearly to see her in that type of pain.
Boo started walking Tuesday evening, and ate a great deal of food. By Wednesday morning, she was alert and her condition had obviously improved. Boo was returned to her vet and continued the Heparin injections and 2 hour feeding intervals. I decided to "watch and wait" until noon. The technician in charge of monitoring her throughout the day actually called me and asked me to bring more food - Boo ate everything that was sent with her. I brought more food, and nearly picked my jaw up off the floor at noon.
I picked her up this evening and was literally astonished. She was active, alert, and PLAYING. Yes - playing. She was acting like the same Boo that was fine Saturday evening before this nightmare began. I am still scraping my jaw off the floor at the improvement. The bruising has not spread any more. She doesn't seem to be in any type of pain. Now, I am just trying to keep her as quiet as possible & minimize movement. I am terrified that activity will increase the internal bleeding. Or jolt a blood clot loose.
Please, if anyone has any experience with this, email me. Is there a period of improvement before the decline? Did anyone see any improvement at all? Any significant improvement? How long before diagnosis and death? What were the initial symptoms and the progressive extent? It has been over 48 hours - what do I expect next? I know I may be faced with some heart shattering decisions at any moment. I know how awful this illness can become in a very short period of time. I would be so thankful if anyone could share details of their personal experience, even if it did end in death.
Here is a picture of Boo's bruising from Tuesday night.
http://www.robandmellisa.com/boo.jpg
Thank you.
Mellisa