From:
Debbie J Snyder
Date: 2005-03-22 14:46:46 UTC
Subject: Update on Noodle
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20050322.094646.3368.2.cd815261@juno.com>
I just wanted to give an update on Noodle who had gotten sick on March
3rd. The first doctor - or actually it was a group of doctors - said
that Noodle had low blood glucose but took no blood to test and sent us
on our way with Nutrical and FerretVite. Two days later Noodle looked as
if he was dying. He was very weak to the point that he could not even
lift his head.
We took him back to the same practice and saw a second doctor who did
take blood and x-rays. She found him to be severly dehydrated and said
that his spleen looked enlarged but wasn't sure if it was larger than it
should be because ferrets have large spleens. She also said that the
x-ray showed his small intestine to be collapsing probably from the
dehydration. She gave him fluids subcutaneously and put him on
metronidazole (which he has 3 more doses left), amoxicillin (he's still
on this too), sucralfate and pepto-bismol. We were also instructed to
give him at least 80cc of pedialyte or water and were told to come back
in a week for a follow-up visit. We did as we were told and saw a marked
improvement in Noodle and were very pleased.
We took him to his follow-up visit and saw a third doctor who gave him a
physical exam and felt a mass. He pulled Noodle's x-rays and looked at
them and said that Noodle's spleen was about 10 times larger than normal
and that he could see that the mass was in his small intestines. He said
that he suspected it to be cancerous due to the fact that if had a rough
feel to it as opposed to being smooth. We agreed to an ultrasound and it
confirmed what he thought. He said that the mass was fleshy with fluid
which was consistent with cancer. He said that we either needed to have
him remove it or put him to sleep. We said that we could not afford the
surgery and asked if he was in pain. The doctor said that he was not but
that he just did not feel well, so we took him home. It felt like one of
the worst days of our lives.
We were advised by people to take him for a second opinion so we took him
to another doctor who was highly recommended by many people on this
board.......his name is Dr. Fisher. Dr. Fisher took blood and aspirated
the mass in Noodle's small intestine. So far we have received the blood
test results but won't receive the results from the aspirated cells from
the mass until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. His blood test
results showed that his kidneys, liver, and blood glucose were all fine
but that his WBCC was at 13,000, which he said is a little high. He is
thinking he may have lymphoma but won't know for sure until we get the
other test results back. He put Noodle on prednisolone and pepcid in
addition to the amoxicillin and metronidazole he's been taking. Does
anyone have any other suggestions or ideas on this matter? We would most
certainly welcome any and all suggestions. I also have questions
concerning the prednisolone. What exactly does it do? Does it shrink
the tumor/mass or just keep it from getting bigger....or something else?
Thanks again for any help or ideas. I'll post the other test results
when we get them on Wednesday or Thursday. Hope everyone has a great
week!
Debbie