Swollen Lymph Nodes in the neck area =(
Last night I was petting Bruno before bed and noticed a squooshy lump on the side of his neck behind the jaw. I felt the other side and same thing. I can like move them around a little and they feel to be the size of dried apricots but squooshy. I called the vet today and we are going in after work to find out if I'm feeling swollen lymph nodes. The vet said they sound too large to be mistaken for the salivary glands. I made the mistake of googling this and now I'm nervous as all heck because all I keep reading about his lymphoma =(. I don't seem to find any other swollen nodes on his body just on both sides of his neck. Can anyone offer up any advice or insight on this? I'm one worried momma right now!
Update on our vet appointment...
Well we went to the vet and let's just say I don't like the answer I got so I am going to a different vet tonight to get a second opinion. The vet I go to actually gave me Bruno in 2006 after someone dumped him off. So I've always continued to go there and have had pretty much a good experience with them until this past year. When my ferret got sick a couple months ago the new vet who just started working there took on the case. He seemed like he was guessing alot. I know that when ferrets have Adrenal Disease and cancer AND enlarged spleens there are alot of questions still lingering and nothing is guaranteed. So we put him on steroids and made him comfortable but there were things that were happening that the vet didn't have answers for that made me wonder if my ferret had progressed into the cancer farther than we thought. Such as green coming out of him where he pee'd from. He had no answer for it when I brought him in...assured me he wasn't suffering yet...he could have another 6 months in him. Three days later my little Stu passed away in his sleep. I know I did everything I could for him...but I still wonder if he suffered those last few days.
Anyhoo last night was my first experience bringing Bruno to see him. And again I feel like I left without any definite answers...just guessing. He felt the sides of his necks...was able to verify what I was feeling...and agreed with me that it could be his salivary glands and not his lymph nodes but because they are in the same area anatomically speaking he wasn't quite sure either. So I asked him if he wanted to do any bloodwork or aspirate the area (as I read online was typical protocal when unsure) and he said no. He felt the other areas of his body where other lymph nodes are found and said they were all normal. I agree with that because I myself had done a full body check on him and didn't find anything either that was swollen elsewhere. But I asked him to do bloodwork and he said no and he said he didn't want to aspirate those questionable glands because he looked nervous. He said he needs a dental cleaning so we scheduled that for the end of next month where they will do pre op blood work a couple days before and he will recheck his nodes then.
Well here is my problem...I don't like not having a definite answer. I don't want to wait four weeks to learn it's something serious that could have been treated 4weeks earlier for a better prognosis. I've heard lymphoma acts fast. How does he not know the difference between nodes and salivary glands? Shouldn't he? So I just feel more comfortable having a second opinion done tonight somewhere else. I will not risk my baby's health for anyone or anything and especially because I just have this weird feeling inside about it. Could be just my nerves from this whole thing but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I will keep everyone updated and thank you all for your support!
Update on Second Opinion Visit
So we went yesterday to the new vet...who I love and will be going to from now on. First thing he did was give my Bruno a big smooch on the head. I can tell he cares and cares about me as the owner/mommy as well.
He gave him a once over and was leaning more towards what he was feeling being the salivary glands. But right off the bat he said I'd like to do the aspiration to be sure. So he did one side first and what came out was alot of blood =/. He was surprised and said he wasn't expecting that so he put it on the slide. Then he did the other side and a little bit of blood came out with more of the stuff he was looking for. He went into the other room to look under the microscrope and after 20 minutes or so he came back in.
He said the side that produced alot of blood looks skeptical because there are white cells along with some other cells there. He can't tell if it's the lymph node or the salivary gland because of all the blood. The other side he said appears to be a salivary gland and he didn't see any unordinary cells on that side. But because he's not a pathologist he is sending both out today for testing.
He informed me that it's 50% chance infection due to his mouth or something like that and 50% chance cancer. He can't really say until we get results back. I asked him if blood could be a result of infection and he said it's a possibility if everything is inflamed in there.
He told me that sometimes we don't get back a definite answer. The pathologist might not know 100% if it's cancer or infection. I hate this waiting game I'm not going to lie =(.
Especially because last night we got home and I found Bruno under the bed right after he had eaten some grean beans (his fave). The little bugger had nabbed a bounce dryer sheet after my husband took the laundry out so I retrieved it from him and that's when I noticed under the bed what appeared to be a poop. So I grabbed it with a tissue and it was a green log of something. Upon further dissection it was mostly green beans. But there wasn't any liquid to it it was a squooshy log. I'm wondering if he regurgitated right after he ate? I read online that with swollen lymph nodes they can get nauseaus and vomit. This morning he doesn't have as much energy as usual. I can tell he's not feeling well.He goes up 5 small stairs to get to the yard and today he made it half way up and stopped and I had to pick him up and put him in the yard. He's moving around...barked a couple times when he heard noises in the house...went potty normal and I inspected that and it was normal. But he is seeming a little low on energy today. He kept his breakfast down though so that's good. I'm at work and I hate leaving him today but my husband will be checking on him throughout the day.
I hate this waiting game because he's not feeling well and I can't make it better for him right now. If it's an infection I just want to know so I can stop worrying and put him on the proper antibiotic and make him well again.
I'll keep everyone posted and thank you for all your support right now I'm a mess over this...if anyone has any insight as to whether or not that sounds like regurgitated green beans let me know. The new vet opens at 11 and I'll be calling him to inform him in a couple of hours.