From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2011-01-24 18:42:41 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Zephyr update (insulinoma)
To: ferrethealth <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Hi, everyone,
Zephyr is an approximately 7=BD - 8 year old spayed female ferret. She
was diagnosed with insulinoma and has been on prednisolone which did
absolutely nothing for her. She had a seizure last week and continued
to have severe symptoms. Her blood glucose as of this morning was 36.
Zephyr had insulinoma surgery this morning. This is the third time
I've had insulinoma surgery on a ferret Zephyr's age or older and, in
all three cases, the vet believed it was the only treatment option
left. The good news is that Zephyr came through surgery just fine and
is awake. The vet says she is recovering very quickly. Two very
large nodules were removed from Zephyr's pancreas. While nothing has
been sent off for pathology the vet believes the really huge one will
turn out to be a carcinoma.
Our vet also found a small, smooth, round nodule on Zephyr's spleen
which she aspirated. Our vet believes it will prove to be benign and
did not want to remove the spleen unless it was absolutely necessary
so it stayed in. Everything else looked normal, including both
adrenal glands and her lymph nodes.
We'll make a decision whether or not she can come home tonight late
this afternoon. It entirely depends on how high her blood glucose
spikes today. If it's over 300 she will stay at the vet's overnight.
I'm never comfortable with surgery on a ferret Zephyr's age but
sometimes it is the only good option. In the two previous cases where
we've gone ahead with insulinoma surgery the ferrets lived for roughly
two more years. I'm hoping we've bought that much time for Zephyr
too.
All the best,
Caity and the dynamic duo
Zephyr and Chin Soon
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