From:
sindahise@yahoo.com
Date: 2005-05-16 05:29:25 UTC
Subject: Emergency - Anemia!!!!!! (Life threatening)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8239888.1116221365394.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Hi,
I have a VITAL emergency. I've done everything I can do locally and I'm literally at wit's end.
I have a 2 year old neutered female who has been diagnosed with anemia (probably non-regenerative but that is questionable as the smear was so poor). We have been fighting this for a long time and I'm going to give a short history on.
About 3 weeks ago she was taken in and disdiagnosed with a heart murmur. 2nd diagnosis (new vet) caught the anemia. An emergency transfusion (during which we caught the blood smear - the only one EVER drawn!) saved her life. The smear came back showing non-regenerative anemia but it also showed a ONE hemocrit as as that is likely impossible that smear is questionable at best.
The 2nd vet started her on metronidazole, karafate, amoxi and pepto thinking that maybe it was an ulcer (??) also although we had seen no tarry stools. She HATED the metro (all but vomited it and the pepto each and every time no matter what I did.)
We were told -- based on the smear -- that she likely had lymphoma and there was no hope. After 48 hours of fighting her on the drugs, and with the "no hope" diagnosis I quit with the metro and pepto.
A consult (online) suggested that as she had (last fall) showed signs of adrenal tumor (a typical shed of all her belly fur that she then regrew) that PERHAPS we should look into that. We did, a tumor was discovered. Another emergency transfusion was done as she was almost a week into the first one and 2 days later she had surgery (a large tumor was removed from her left adrenal and a bone marrow aspiration was done).
The surgeon sent it for path but it won't be back until Wed and Teegre isn't doing very well... she is 7 days after her LAST transfusion and I'm smart enough to realize that this likely means she isn't making blood herself BUT here is my question...
JUST prior to surgery (72 hrs AFTER I stopped the metro) she pinked up! I swear she did. I swear that she started to get better. The surgeon said that it was unlikely that she would and that he had never heard of ANYTHING that could do that -- lysis a ferret enough to cause her to get THAT anemic.
Teegre is going to die before the path report ever gets back at the rate this is going.
PLEASE if ANYONE has heard of anything that could do this - EMAIL me immediately! I don't want to torture her for the last 48-72 hours of her life by giving her a medication that will make her vomit but if I was right and I hear 12 hours after she died that her bone marrow was fine and that there was a simple drug that could have saved her I'm not sure what I will do!
I don't think she has another 48 hours left.
Please - EMAIL me! - Sindahise@yahoo.com