From:
Chelsey Baker-Hauck
Date: 2006-11-27 22:51:22 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Elmo update/lymphosarcoma
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I broken hearted to tell you all that my little Elmo passed away last
Monday from lymphosarcoma. He was five years old and had had the
cancer for about 18 months, although we didn't know it until near the
end.
If there is anything positive to come out of this it might be a
better understanding of how this disease can affect the nervous
system. Elmo had progressively worsening neurological symptoms for
@16 months with all tests being normal. We saw every specialist in
the book. We never suspected cancer because the bloodwork, etc., was
all perfectly normal. It wasn't until October that we noticed a
change--enlarged mesenteric and sub-lumbar lymph nodes. They were
biopsied and showed cancer. Bloodwork still normal at that point. The
first change in bloodwork was just a week before he died--his kidneys
and bone marrow began to fail.
Once we'd diagnosed the cancer, we started him on a homeopathic
cancer protocol. The first remedy his case called for was Conium; his
tumors shrunk dramatically during the week he was on it. But he then
developed pneumonia (I was sick with some sort of nasty lung bug at
the same time, which I apparently passed to him) and he never fully
recovered from that. We were never able to resume the protocol, so I
don't know if it would have worked. I do know, however, that single-
dose or single-remedy homeopathic treatment doesn't cure this cancer
or prompt a remission. We had promising results initially but could
never get past the complications that began with the pneumonia and
having to stop the protocol then. That's when the tumors really took
off.
Ultimately, we determined that he wasn't eating b/c the mesenteric
node was so large, it was squeezing his stomach and intestines. Only
a liquid diet could pass. He ate gravy well from a syringe. A week
before he died, we tried a single dose of L-asparginaise (spelling?),
a chemo drug we hoped would shrink the tumors enough to allow him to
eat and maintain his quality of life a bit longer. It didn't require
hospitalization or catheterization, and he tolerated it well. And, it
did rapidly shrink the tumors. Unfortunately, the cancer had
meanwhile continued to destroy his kidneys, and ultimately that's
what killed him.
If I had to do it all over again, I think I would still try the
homeopathic method.
Unfortunately, I may have that opportunity soon. Just three days ago,
I noticed that Elmo's cage mate, Cassie (actually his mom), had
developed a hard lump in her leg that feels suspiciously like a
cancerous node. It's growing bigger daily. She's almost 9 though, so
losing her doesn't seem like quite as much of a tragedy (she already
has insulinoma and an adrenal tumor). Also, she's been heartbroken
since Elmo died, looking for him everywhere and sleeping with his
toys. When he was slipping away, she groomed him from head to toe
then frantically bit and scratched at his scruff trying to get him to
get up. It's a very sad time at our house.
Chelsey
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