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The Shefferman Journal Archive is arranged top to bottom in chronological order for easy reading.
2000
August 6, 2000 - Mary's entry
I'll try to keep people updated on what's
going on with Modern Ferret
here. Today we started working on a new page layout for Issue #27. It's about
all Eric can do today. I'm trying to flesh out the main web site a little ...
and I started this diary.
We have to get in touch with the rheumatologist tomorrow
because the new medication for Eric's back isn't working as well as we had
hoped. But at least we know we're finally on the right track and there are
plenty other medications that we can try.
August 8, 2000 - Mary's entry
Tomorrow is my birthday. I think I've had
enough of birthdays.
Eric is starting a new medication today. We're hopeful that
this will relieve his back pain so we can get on with Modern Ferret.
I don't think I mentioned this in the Modern Ferret
update -- Bosco had surgery about three weeks ago. Back in April he had his left
adrenal removed and he never seemed to bounce back from that as we had hoped.
Our vet (the most wonderful Dr. Ned Horowitz at Massapequa Pet Vet) took a look
at him and did some blood work. His liver enzymes were high, so Dr. Ned sent us
home with SC (subcutaneous -- under the skin) fluids and some antibiotics. Eric
was an incredible trooper, holding Bosco as I gave him the fluids. (Eric has no
love of needles.) After 10 days, his liver enzymes were back to normal. We
continued with fluids for a little while longer, but Bosco didn't improve. So we
had an ultrasound done by Dr. Randano (I don't know how to spell his name, I'm
sorry) -- he was fabulous!. Two assistants held Bosco still and I was
stroking his little head and talking to him while Dr. R. did the ultrasound. I'd
never seen an ultrasound in progress, so it was an interesting experience. Dr.
R. explained the things he saw on the ultrasound as he was doing it. Bosco
stayed calm through the whole thing (he's a fraidy ferret, so the fact that I
could be there with him was reassuring for us both). The ultrasound showed some
cysts on his kidneys and showed some kind of abnormalities by his stomach and in
a part of his intestines. His liver looked a little odd, too. The recommendation
was for exploratory surgery.
So in Bosco went for surgery. He was so weak and lethargic
when I dropped him off, I didn't think I would see him again. Bosco being sick
on top of Eric being sick was a nightmare. I didn't feel that I was taking
proper care of either one of them. But I trust Dr. Ned and his staff -- I knew
that if anyone could help Bosco, it was them. Dr. Ned took biopsies of
everything that showed any kind of abnormality on the ultrasound (liver,
intestines, kidneys, right adrenal), as well as the lymph nodes, and removed
some cysts. Bosco made it through the surgery OK and came home three days later.
The biopsies came back negative for cancer (I was all but convinced he had
lymphoma or some other cancer). What did turn up was a lot of inflammation and
suspicion of Helicobacter mustelidae (the bacterial culprit in ulcers).
We treated Bosco for ulcers (Amoxicillin + metronidazole) and for the
inflammation (prednisone). He is now on a slightly lower dose of the prednisone
and is doing great. It took him a while, but now he plays and hops up on the
couch, leaps from one couch to the other, wrestles with Koosh... He's Bosco
again. I'm v-e-r-y slowly trying to reduce the prednisone. Bosco is only 4 years
old; if I can avoid having him on prednisone for the rest of his life, I will.
One of the most wonderful things in life is knowing you've
done something to improve someone else's (ferret, human) life. Every time I see
Bosco's big brown eyes alert and mischievous, I feel good.
August 13, 2000 - Mary's entry
My sister Kristin gets the Best Sister Award. She
and my nephew Aidan came down from Massachusetts to help out with a few things
here this weekend. Aidan didn't actually do much in the way of work. He's only 7
months old, so it's tough to train him to do some of the tasks that needed
doing. :o) Kris helped with house cleaning, laundry, and some Modern Ferret
stuff. The best part was that she washed the ferrets. I can't wash them because
I have an asthma attack every time we wash them. I'm not sure why exactly this
happens, but it does. So Eric usually washes them, and I try to convince them
that clean dry towels dry wet ferrets better than plastic tubes. Since Eric has
been sick, the ferrets have enjoyed a bath-free few months. They've had ample
time to collect enough dust on themselves that picking them up to kiss them on
the head was leaving me wheezing. (I'm terribly allergic to dust and dust mites,
but dust-free ferrets don't bother me.)
My family doesn't look down on my ferrets (figuratively, that
is; literally, everyone looks down on them). For this I'm lucky and thankful. I
know many people have a bit of a challenge getting their friends and family
members to think well of their choice of a ferret as a pet. My father started
calling our ferrets his "Grandferrets" several years ago -- all on his
own. No one in my family thinks I'm any nuttier for my choice of pet than they
thought previously for my choice of hair color or choice in music. They know me
and accept me the way I am. I'm the only one in my family who has ferrets...
which brings me to the point: Kris has no ferrets. She's never washed a ferret.
Never clipped ferret nails. Never cleaned ferret ears.
Now she has.
She was wonderful with the little guys. Her ferret-bathing
technique was more closely based on baby bathing than on pet bathing, but it
worked just fine. She gently splashed water all over the ferret then massaged in
the shampoo (I reached in and gave the tail a good rubbing to remove any
buildup). Rinsing was equally gentle: Kris tossed little splashes of water all
over the ferret, then rinsed under running water, careful not to get water in
their ears or eyes. Once everyone was squeaky clean, we moved on to the nails
and ears.
Nail clipping is easy. A few drops of Ferretone on the belly
and the ferret is in LaLa Land. All I needed was someone to hold the ferret like
a big slice of watermelon while I trimmed the claws. Kris turned out to be a
great help with this. When some of the ferrets became clipper shy, Kris was
adept at holding the paw while I clipped. Cat experience pays off. The ears were
another story.
Most ferrets, including all of ours, dislike ear cleaning. I
think they work so hard to get their ears to that perfect level of dirty where
they smell just right that they resent us humans coming in and
"stealing" their ear gunk. Fair enough. But that won't stop us from
cleaning their ears. Everyone (all the ferrets, that is) knew that Kris was not
Eric and that Kris wasn't going to scruff them with the same intensity that Eric
would. Despite the ferrets' best efforts to squirm away (and Koosh's very
naughty attempts to nip my fingers), we managed to get all the ears cleaned.
Kris was great. She's always great.
........
The new medication that Eric started for his back seems to be working. Unfortunately, he had to miss a couple of doses because the barium he had to drink for a CT scan he had on Friday made him too sick to eat a full meal (he has to take the medication on a full stomach). If it isn't the disease that gets you, it's the side effects from the medication.
August 25, 2000 - Mary's entry
A lot has happened since the last
entry. Eric finally became sick enough that the gastroenterologist put him in
the hospital on Wednesday the 16th (the day before Eric's birthday). He was
discharged on Tuesday the 22nd. The hospital stay is a story in itself that I
might get into at a later date. Mostly Eric is feeling much better. He's on
several different medications that seem to be helping him. The back pain has
been attributed to a Crohn's flare-up and is responding to high doses of
steroids. Although the side effects are unpleasant (e.g., a voracious appetite,
jitters, irritability), I think Eric is glad to be able to begin to do some of
the things he normally does (like climb stairs and drive). We've taken the last
few days to acclimate and catch up on some much-needed sleep (the hospital is 40
minutes away, so I did a lot of driving and pretty much exhausted myself).
The ferrets behaved well throughout Eric's hospital stay -- a
little "spite pooping" in non-approved corners -- but, all in all,
they handled their "Dad's" absence well. The first day Eric was home,
the ferrets seemed a little confused. I think he smelled like a hospital to
them, and they weren't sure who he was. However, on the second day, there was
mass fuzzy hysteria. Knuks (who loves her Dad) followed Eric everywhere.
It was a sight: a 1-pound white ferret galloping frantically after Eric, then
stopping and looking straight up. Not begging. Not trying to climb. Just staring
up as if she couldn't believe her beady little eyes. The other ferrets
frequently checked in on Eric, with Koosh making the usual big hairy pest of
himself. (He's big enough that if he doesn't want to take "no" for an
answer, he just doesn't.) Much sniffing ensued.
August 30, 2000 - Mary's entry
My hair is a sort of reddish (neon-like)
pink. I had intended a nice pale pink -- more on the sweet side, like cotton
candy. Something about the best laid plans of mice and men comes to mind. I must
thank Kenny and Nicole for my hair (if you prefer, you may use the word
"blame" in the place of "thank"). We'll try to get a photo
up in another day or so.
I've decided to call this a journal instead of a diary. I
like the sound of "journal" better.
September 1, 2000 - Mary's entry
I have to thank some people for their support
through Eric's hospitalization and the surrounding times.
Eric's Mom has been great. I can't thank her enough
for her daily visits to Eric in the hospital and for all of her help through
this whole ordeal.
Eric's Dad has called here daily to check in on Eric and to
help boost his spirits.
All of Eric's friends who called to check in on him
helped him to get through the hospital stay deserve giant thanks..
And "Thank You"s to my family for their support --
with a special thank you to my Aunt Helen for putting up with my ranting and
raving. :-)
September 17, 2000 - Mary's entry
Last week I taped an episode of The Family Pet (a pet show
on a local station here on Long Island). It aired this weekend, so I finally got
to see how I did. I did better than I remembered doing while I was there. The
ferrets seemed better behaved than I recall also. I brought Trixie and Knuks to
represent the authors of the new book (The Wit and Wisdom of the Modern
Ferrets). I brought Koosh so Dr. Greenfield (the show's host) could see what an
Angora ferret looks (and behaves) like. All in all, I think it went well.
They'll be rerunning it several times over the course of the TV season. By then
my hair will be a different color entirely (it's red at the moment -- it was
supposed to be pink, but that's another story).
I talked with an old friend of mine the other day -- we've
known each other for about 20 years. Linda has two Pomeranian dogs -- L'il and
Rosie. As we were talking, she described how the Poms kill rats. It's basically
the same way a ferret would kill a rat. I told her how the ferrets sometimes
pick up a piece of food in their teeth and shake it from side to side
(presumably to disorient it -- have you ever seen a disoriented piece of ferret
kibble? not a pretty sight). Linda said her dogs do the same thing with their
food. Animals. Go figure.
Eric continues to do well. I, on the other hand, continue to
have some sort of problem with my stomach. I get to have some sort of
gallbladder test tomorrow and then an upper GI series on Tuesday. We'll see how
these turn out.
In the meantime, Eric is diligently working on
www.FerretMall.com -- a new commerce site we're setting up so ferret businesses,
clubs, shelters, and breeders can create a free commerce website within the
mall. It's a pretty cool idea. You should take a look -- even if you're just
looking to browse some stores. (OK, so right now only The Modern Ferret Store is
there, but since it's free it should fill up pretty quickly.)
We're also continuing to move forward with Issue #27 of Modern
Ferret. We got the cover and centerfold scans back and they look great! We
also did my editorial photo before I had to have my pink hair dyed red. Knuks
looks precious (she is precious!).
That's about all for now.
October 8, 2000 - Mary's entry
Here's a preview of the Issue #27 cover -- it's Balthazar (up-close and personal!). Of course, in real life the photo is pin-sharp -- jpegs are not a particularly great way to look at the world.
The centerfold is really cute, too. We'll be finishing our production on the issue in the next couple of days. Then it's running film and printing. It'll be weird to actually see a new copy of Modern Ferret now. It's been so long, it seems almost surreal.
........
So now it's my turn. I get to have an endoscopy sometime in the next two weeks to determine if I really did manage to get an ulcer while all this fun stuff was going on here. At least Eric is continuing to do well, mostly. I think we should put the gastroenterologist on retainer. (Note to Lisa: I'm sorry if you're reading about this on the web before I get a chance to talk to you!) (Note to other readers: Lisa is one of my friends from high school -- she recently admonished me for having to read about my gallbladder exam on the web instead of hearing it directly from me. Lisa, BTW, is credited -- or, rather, I credit Lisa -- with starting me writing poetry.)
October 9, 2000 - Mary's entry
"The cat came back ..." A stray (I
believe) cat has adopted us. He has no collar and appears to be hungry. He (or
she) keeps coming back when Eric is out barbecuing. He wants to come in the
house. I cannot let this happen. I'm terribly allergic to cats -- and I don't
want any fleas or anything coming in and bugging the ferrets. Eric keeps giving
him food (we have some Iams kitten and some Eukanuba kitten in the house) and
water. Certainly we don't want the cat to go hungry. But we don't want him in
the house either. I think this is the cat I wrote
about on my birthday back in 1999, so he's been around for a while. Maybe
the owners moved? Maybe the cat just got fed up with the owners (cats don't
really have owners, do they?) and moved out. Regardless, he cannot live here.
But we will keep feeding him if he's hungry.
October 19, 2000 - Mary's entry
Well, the film for Issue #27 is finally on
its way to the printer. Now we can start working on some of the web stuff we've
wanted to do. Check back in a week or so to see what we're up to.
We did our first ebay auction last week. It was kind of neat.
I think we're going to keep looking around here for stuff to sell on ebay.
........
I got a heck of a surprise when I went to
refill my asthma inhaler (steroids) the other day -- the pharmacy can't get it
anymore. This is the new medication -- the medication I was on disappeared a
month or two ago. So now I have to start on something completely different. I
hope it works well. Medications disappearing brings me to talk about a
disturbing trend I have noticed in my life: products I used to use -- that
helped to define who I am -- have been disappearing at an alarming rate.
It started innocently enough with a candy called
"Chocolate Babies." When I was a kid I used to eat them at the movie
theater, along with old-time favorites like Twizzlers, Milk Duds, and SweetTarts.
Now? Chocolate Babies are no more. I didn't think too much of it. Then Pepsi
Lite disappeared. OK. Times change.
Now what's gone? StickFree gum, unscented Dry Idea solid
antiperspirant, Aapri Apricot Scrub (with the really fine grit), Nivea lip balm
stuff, rubbery Disney Zipperdedoodahs, Liquid Bold (which used to be Solo),
"Disappearing Cookies" (that's Eric's), Men's style flip-flops (with
the "X", not the ones that go through your toes), the Crest toothbrush
I used to use (they improved it -- hmmph).
November 7, 2000 - Mary's entry
Issue #27 is in print! Yay! It should be
mailing this week (actually, it might have mailed yesterday or be mailing today
-- I'm not sure). The cover came out better than expected. At least something
works out right once in a while. As soon as I finish getting this journal entry
up, I'll update the www.ModernFerretStore.com
web site.
We launched our FerretTV site. The first episode of "The
Mary Show" (the name wasn't my idea) is up now. Go to www.FerretTV.com
and check it out. You'll need the current version of Real Player or the Windows
Media Player to view the show and other videos on the site. You can get the Real
Player for free by going to real.com and looking for the free version (they sort
of hide it and play up the one that costs money, but you can ferret out the free
one).
We also launched www.FerretTradingPost.com.
The Ferret Trading Post site has ferret supplies and stuff (food, treats,
hammocks etc). The concept is that we're selling the things that we use for our
own ferrets -- so we're choosing what's best for them to make it easy for other
ferret owners to choose good products for their ferrets. As always, if you have
comments or suggestions, let us know.
........
On a personal note, I finally go for an endoscopy tomorrow. We'll see if we can figure out what's going on with my stomach. I'm convinced that it's all in my head (that is, that it's stress/anxiety-related from Eric being sick for months and months). The scope will tell. Eric continues to mostly do well. The ferrets are also well, though Bosco is still on prednisone for his inflammatory bowel disease. He (Bosco) also hasn't changed his coat for winter yet and still has shaved patches from his surgery back in July.
........
The other evening I was flipping around the channels on the TV and I came across a PBS program on poets and poetry. In my previous life, I was a poet. I suppose I still am, except for the writing poetry part. It was like seeing an old flame (or as Darlene G., a friend in college, once put it: "That wasn't an old flame; that was an old bonfire!"). Or maybe not. Whatever it was like, it reminded me that my life is too short to spend the whole time working without spending time working on poetry. The "life-is-too-short" thing usually comes out this time of year anyway (October 28th was the 27th anniversary of my Mother's death). I'm hoping to put aside some time to write poetry again.
November 8, 2000 - Mary's entry
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, endoscopies can be fun! It's the whole bizarre thing with the IV sedation that's not fun. The upshot is that my stomach is normal. The doc thinks I had an ulcer but being on meds for so long it didn't show up anymore. I get to keep taking meds and hope that's it.
........
On a completely separate note -- does anyone know of a good place to live? We're looking hard at getting off of Long Island and we'd love some suggestions of places that aren't quite so expensive (LI is one of the most expensive places to live).
........
Check out The Ferrets page -- I added a link to some pictures of our little furbabies!
November 26, 2000 - Mary's entry
Thanksgiving was nice. I got to see my nieces
and nephews, which is always a treat. I ate too much. Same old story.
Eric and I are working on Issue #28 now. Eric is laying out
pages and I'm finishing up the editorial. We're going to try to get a few issues
out as quickly as possible. Now that Eric is feeling well, we can actually get a
lot of work done in a day. We're also gearing up to do some new videos for the
FerretTeleVision site (www.FerretTV.com).
I have to get the "studio" set up for the next round of taping.
So far our new web store (www.FerretTradingPost.com)
seems to be going well. Eric and I are having fun writing things for Lewis and
Clark to talk about. I have to do some more drawings for the site. I'm a
terrible artist, but when I draw on the computer at least I can get the ferrets
to look a little like ferrets (I hope!).
........
One of the very best things about our ferret Knuks is that she loves to cuddle with people. Last night I was sitting on the couch, and Knuks wandered over and just stared up at me (her way of saying, "Excuse me -- I'm here!"). I stretched my hand down to her, and she grabbed onto my wrist so I could lift her up. She was shivering. I wrapped her up with me in my sweater and she stopped shivering after a few minutes. Then she curled up and went to sleep.
January 16, 2001 - Mary's entry
I haven't been able to make entries in the journal for
about two months now. A few things have prevented me from writing. There were
the holidays, and all the stress and bustle that goes with them. And the joy,
too. We mustn't leave out the joy. Then there was finishing off Issue #28 (which
went into the mail on January 12th). Also, Eric has been updating the Modern
Ferret website, which requires him to use the computer that I usually use to
write and, more importantly, upload this journal. I hope you've taken a look at
the updated website. We're still adding finishing touches and filling out some
of the sections that aren't yet complete, but it's a great improvement over
(easier to navigate) the old site.
The other activity that has occupied a huge portion of my
time is caring for Bosco da Gama. Bosco was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel
Disease after exploratory surgery back in July. He was doing fine on prednisone
for several months. We joked about how Bosco and Eric were both on prednisone
for similar illnesses: "Like father, like ferret-kid." Soon, I was
able to decrease Bosco's prednisone dose. He continued to do well.
Sometime in November, Bosco started grinding his teeth when
he ate and having diarrhea. We gave him Carafate for the tooth grinding and
Kaopectate for the diarrhea. He didn't respond, so I started increasing his
prednisone dose back up to where it had been in July. Bosco had some
intermittent response to the medications, but he wasn't really getting better. I
began to feed him warmed-up chicken baby food because even though he was eating,
he wouldn't eat much before he stopped. Besides, baby food is easy on the
digestive tract. I continued to feed him (by spoon!), and he continued to eat
what I fed him. But more and more, he stopped eating his regular food. I
increased the amount of baby food I gave him, but he started losing weight.
While previously we had been able to get Bosco's diarrhea under control to a
large extent, we began to see it more and more. He was going downhill quickly
(as ferrets do). When we could no longer keep him hydrated, we brought him to
our vet (Dr. Ned Horowitz -- a man whose skill has helped many of our ferrets
through tough times). Dr. Horowitz started Bosco on metronidazole (an
antibiotic) mixed with loperamide (Imodium for the diarrhea) and Lactated
Ringer's (fluids to inject under the skin to help keep Bosco hydrated). We began
to give him some vanilla Ensure along with the baby food.
Bosco was not the model patient. No matter how Eric and I
restrained him, he would not let us get the subcutaneous (subQ) fluids into him.
Whenever I had done subQ fluids in the past, I used a straight needle. I had
some difficulty at first, but then I got the hang of it. But this time, I was at
a total loss. Bosco would jerk out the needle every time. There's something
about a ferret who's weak and ill -- he always seems to find super-ferret
strength to get himself out of a restraining grip. I was frustrated because I
couldn't get the fluids into Bosco -- I couldn't help him -- but I knew the
fluids would make him feel better. I even tried reasoning with him (yeah, try
that). Finally, I remembered that we had one butterfly needle in the house. A
butterfly needle has little plastic wings and tubing that connects the needle to
the syringe. Once you get the needle in, if the ferret jerks, the needle moves
with him instead of popping out. The butterfly needle worked perfectly. I
stopped back at the vet's and got more butterflies. I thought that would be the
first step to Bosco's recovery.
But, despite the subQ fluids, the feedings, and the
medications, Bosco was getting no better. He continued to have diarrhea and he
stopped lapping up the warm baby food (though he happily lapped up the vanilla
Ensure). We took him back to see Dr. Horowitz.
That was Monday (Martin Luther King's Birthday, two days
ago). We started Bosco on a different steroid -- dexamethasone -- and a
different antibiotic -- amoxicillin. We also started him on Hill's high-calorie
a/d food. More fluids. Today, he took the mixture of one-half baby food plus
one-half high-calorie a/d, warmed for 10 seconds in the microwave, and he lapped
it up on his own. He's started eating more crunchies on his own. I'm still very
guarded about him. This could be a temporary improvement. He's still having
diarrhea (and is still taking Kaopectate). He's very weak and disturbingly thin.
But at least now he's eating. So I'm a bit more hopeful today than I was Monday.
Now it's Friday. Bosco has had several nearly normal poops!
They're a little bird-seedy (which means he's not fully digesting his food), but
sometimes they're actually formed. (Only ferret owners and new parents get this
excited about poop.) Bosco is eating much more on his own, but he's very
lethargic and he still grinds his teeth a little (though this seems to have
improved over the last day). He doesn't really want me to feed him, though he'll
take some of the baby-food/high-calorie a/d mixture on his own. He's now getting
Pepto Bismol instead of Kaopectate (he hates both of them -- though especially
the Pepto). I continue to be hopeful that he'll feel better than he does now,
and stay that way for a while longer. I'm not ready to give up on him. He just
turned four years old.
February 22, 2001 - Mary's entry
Wow. It's been quite some time since I've written anything
for this journal. I'll cover the bad news first. After a brief rally, Bosco da
Gama became more and more ill until there was nothing left for us to do for him
but help him leave this life. This was the hardest decision we've had to make
for one of our ferrets. He was only four years old. I wrote a nice little piece
about him for Issue #29, which should be going to the printer in another day or
two. I miss him. It's actually harder to count the ferrets now that there are
fewer of them. I keep thinking someone is missing. And he is.
Right on the heels of losing Bosco, Knuks started having bad
stools, Balthazar started vomiting and having runny stools occasionally, and
Koosh started having small, skinny stools. Koosh's problem was easily corrected.
It seems he had an infection in his anal scent glands. A 10-day course of
antibiotics and having his glands expressed by Dr. Horowitz a couple of times
has made Koosh is old self again. Balthazar is currently on antibiotics and he
seems to be responding just fine. He's very fat this winter, so I was a bit
concerned that he might be having some other sort of problem -- but no. He's
just fat and he has a little bug. The bigger concern is Knuks.
Dr. Horowitz felt a lump in (or near) Knuks' intestines. He
showed me where to feel, and I felt the lump, too. Knuks has been having normal
stools, followed by "bird-seed" stools, followed by liquid green
stools, and back to normal again. This little cycle repeats every couple of
days. We have her on Kaopectate three times a day, and it seems to be helping
her have longer periods of normal stools and shorter periods of the really yucky
stools. I just scheduled her for exploratory surgery on Tuesday morning. We had
a little difficulty in deciding to do this. Our biggest concern is Knuks' age
and size. She's six years old and weighs only a little over a pound. She's
always been a tiny ferret -- that's just the way she is, and we love her for it.
We opted not to go for an ultrasound because we (and Dr. Horowitz) felt that it
wouldn't be conclusive, and we would likely still have to do surgery to find out
what's going on for certain. It could be very bad news. I will try to update the
journal as soon as we have news.
........
I've decided to write a book about my father. I'm hoping he'll comply. He tells the most wonderful stories -- many of which are likely embellished as only a fisherman can embellish. Honestly, he's had some fascinating adventures and he tells them in a very captivating way. Of course, I could discover that I have absolutely no ability to capture the essence of his storytelling. But I have to try.
March 9, 2001 - Mary's entry
Knuks had her surgery. Dr. Horowitz opened her up and saw
hemorrhagic and necrotic tissue around her mesenteric lymph node (translation:
some bloody and dead tissue around the lymph node that's located by the
intestines). He took a biopsy (several samples) and closed her up. Due to the
location of the lymph node, he could not remove it. The prognosis looked bleak.
But yesterday we got some very good news -- the lymph node is not
cancerous. The preliminary pathology report indicates that the problem is
peritonitis (an inflammation of the peritoneum, or the abdominal cavity).
Peritonitis usually occurs as a result of trauma. It's possible that Knuks'
vaccine reaction last year precipitated the problem. Although peritonitis is
nothing to sneeze at, it has a much better prognosis than cancer in the lymph
nodes. We're all feeling pretty good here today.
Knuks has been feeling good since her surgery. She's running
around, full of energy, eating, drinking, and going on very important secret
ferret missions throughout the living room. Her poop is still soft and
occasionally runny, but this is to be expected with her condition. We're
awaiting the final pathology report before taking any other action. In the
meantime, Knuks is on antibiotics and Kaopectate.
........
When we decided to add a three-year
renewal/subscription option, we didn't expect a lot of people would take us up
on it. We decided that if someone renewed for three years, we'd send them a
little hand-written than-you note and a couple of our vintage Modern Ferret
trading cards. No big deal, right? Well... a lot of people have taken us up on
the three-year renewal, and my hand is tired from writing! I'm not complaining.
I think it's great that our readers are showing support for our efforts.
Next project: Another ferret book!
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