So he suggested we take her back in a month, and if the growth is any bigger, then we can start thinking about drastic measures. We were like, "Waaaait a minute, if it is cancer, shouldn't we find that out and take the thing out now so maybe she can keep her tongue?" So we left her there for a cytology. Apparently what that is is that they poke into the tissue and take some cells out, then do tests to see if they're cancerous.
In the meantime, we came home and freaked out. After we calmed down, we decided to index some more names, because that would be a good way to stay productive while also keeping our minds off of things. After doing four batches of names each, we took a break, then played video games, because they still hadn't called to let us get Mimsy yet.
Finally they called at around five-thirty. The doctor said the test results will be ready in a day or two. In the meantime, we wanted to know some ways we could help Mimsy eat without using her tongue, so that it would be able to heal more quickly. When we asked the doctor what we could do, he said, "I don't think it's gonna heal, but..." And that's when our nerves and anxiety turned to defiance and a little bit of rage. We're toning the rage down, fortunately, but the defiance is still there. We're kind of like, "Well show you! Those results are gonna come back and prove she doesn't have cancer!"
Of course, no amount of defiance will make her not have cancer if she does. But if she doesn't, no amount of the doctor's surety will make it so she does. So we wait and see.
Now that she's home, she's still really groggy from the anasthesia (I'm too tired to deal with spelling that right). The doctor told us to give her a little food to prevent nausea, but as soon as we started feeding her, she started jerkily batting at her tongue. I'd imagine the food irritates it, and it's probably already in enough pain as it is. The batting at it wouldn't be an issue except that she's so groggy she can't really control her claws, and we'd hear a nicking noise, and there would be more blood. We're terrified that she's cutting her tongue up even more, but it was going to be bleeding anyway, so hopefully...
And when she's done drinking water, we really need to get her these pain meds.
In the meantime,
Today I'm thankful for Mom driving us to the vet again, people (like Mom) who are willing to think outside the box in coming up with solutions to make this healing thing work, tests to see whether or not it's really cancer, e-mails with happy news, and hamster bottles.