Firecheeks turned five months old, yesterday. She is responding a little better with this round of steroids and will occasionally play with me, which is new. She is also responding well to the Reiki (when I can keep Little Bear from trying to soak in all of the flow--not sure if it is just because he is such a mama's boy or if he genuinely enjoys the Reiki). Prognosis is still grim and the expectation is weeks. I am basically keeping her comfortable until it is time to assist her across the bridge.
We are still waiting for more test results to come in, hopefully this week (we have been waiting since her first visit on 12/16/14--we have had three visits, now) and while I am still in the denial phase and hopeful that they will come back with happy news; living with Firecheeks and watching what has been occurring since I got her on November 15, 2014--well, I know better than to really get my hopes up. She is also growing increasingly aggressive when I pick her up and I know it is due to her pain--so if you are noticing that my hands and arms look like I am battling Freddy Krueger nightly--fear not, it is just my weasel baby's teeth and claws.
I have been told
by a well-respected and trusted ferret veterinarian that Juvenile
Lymphoma is pretty rare. I am not sure how it is that I managed to have
two ferret babies diagnosed and lost to it, in a year's span (I lost a
very special girl, Joey, December 11, 2013 at seven months of age). It
makes it more puzzling that they were both Marshall Farms ferrets, both
from the same Petco. I choose Firecheeks from the group because she was so
gentle and sweet--not so much these days, but it helps me to understand
the issues that I was having with Joey, too (Joey was quite the biter
and while I loved her immensely, she was very challenging).
The good news is that due to the issues I had with Joey, I was able to
spot Firecheeks' symptoms as soon as they started to show and have been
able to prepare for the upcoming loss. I am thinking I may be done with Marshalls, at this point, though. Between these two experiences and the challenges I had with Winzig, years ago (complications due to early spaying)--I was already leary of Marshalls. Pretty sure that anger is also a normal phase of grief and since Marshalls is the common denominator, can you really blame me?
Petco was very kind through my first experience; they provided me with a gift card in the amount of Joey's purchase price. It didn't even begin to cover what I had in vet bills and it certainly didn't make up for the grief but it was a kind gesture. I suspect that they now believe that I have some sort of elaborate ferret scam occurring. You know the one--where you get a ferret baby, with hopes of years together--watch it get sick, spend crazy amounts of time and money to save it and then your heart breaks--yeah, that ferret scam. Petco did offer to buy her back and cover the vet bills, but this is her home. While financially, that would have made sense, my ferrets are the one area that I follow my heart, certainly not my wallet.
Either way, I wanted to share a few pictures of my little girl. Every now and then, I catch glimpses of the ferret she would have become and I guess it was her luck that brought her to my door; where her bites are forgiven, she gets mini-adventures when she feels up to it and she has many special, sleeping spots when she doesn't feel as well. While it doesn't feel fair from my end--I have to stop and think of how her short life may have played out, in another home. Here, she is well-loved, despite the costs and challenges. Here, she has brothers to keep her warm;
she has a human that loves her. For now, we
bide our time.
