From:
xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx
Date: 2006-06-14 15:38:30 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Surgery that did not go well
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
I took in a ferret a month ago who had a very large malignant tumor above her ribcage on the left side of her. It was raised up almost an inch in places with an infected hole in it; I can only imagine it was painful and she did sleep a lot.
I asked the vet what we should do and we decided to take it off, without pre-anestetic testing because of the infection, she would have a high white count anyway, and due to her age, we knew there was a change (a good chance) she might not have made it through the surgery.
The other option given was being euthanized. The vet said very soon it would become a quality of life issue. The tumor was 5 ounces. The ferret weighed 1 pound on her own without the tumor.
The tumor grew a lot in the last week. I had the surgery for this morning, and stood by and watched as they took it off, and she was patched up. Then as I was going to leave, the pulse ox monitor went off and the vet asked for epi. She had already been given pain meds (i think) and fluids prior to waking up. As she woke up we all saw her tail was poofed. I joked and said, yes, she's awake. Then the monitor went off.
The vet used the steth and said that her pulse was steady, but then she realized she wasn't breathing. She asked for epi and pushed .3ml, and did compressions and mouth to mouth. Then she continued and asked for more epi, and said we weren't going to get her back.
The owners had said that Scarlett was very old anyway but I am hoping I made the right decision to try the surgery. I am very torn about it. Waking her up this morning and having her be fine one moment and gone the next is very hard for me to think about.
There was no preparation done for her before surgery. I don't know if that made a difference. A necropsy is being done right now.
A lot of people donated to make her surgery possible and I am heartbroken.
xxxxxxx
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