[Gpdd] HEALTH- Mimi has a tumor

[Ronald Zimmerman]

I found out Tues. that our sweet Mimi has an inoperable tumor. I had to take a few days before I could post this. Several years ago we were told by one of the other exotics vets in the practice that she had a pea size lipoma under her right armpit. It is not a lipoma, it is a tumor. It grew to a hard golf ball size lump seemingly overnight almost. I don't know how I didn't notice that she had a huge lump on her. I hold her every night. It's like it came out of no where. The vet we saw is our regular exotics vet that we've taken all our piggies to over the years. He's been in practice with piggies & other exotics for over 30 years & is a wonderful vet. Basically to sum things up, when he felt how hard it was he knew it was a tumor. It is large & in a bad place & he said he did not feel he would be able to get it all out if she had surgery. He thinks it it is attached to a bone. He also said sometimes removing them can cause them to grow back faster &
 larger. We had made the decision even before going in that we were not going to put Mimi thru any surgery. She is between 5&1/2-6 years old & it is just to risky & I don't want to prolong her life if it is not going to be a good quality of life. The vet seemed to think she may live longer without the surgery as she is a risky candidate for surgery & may not recover well. We do not know if it is a benign or cancerous tumor. He did draw fluid from it but because we are opting not to have the surgery there is no point having it tested. Either it will eventually get so large she will no longer be able to walk & function or if it is cancer it will spread. So we have chosen to keep her comfortable & eventually give pain meds if needed. For now she is doing fine without them. We will spoil here like crazy & lavish love upon her for as long as she decides to stay with us. I am completely devastated to say the least.I cried all day Tues. Please keep Mimi in your
 prayers that she will have plenty of more time with us & the tumor does not grow any bigger. Thanks.
~Jaime, Mimi & Captain Phil the betta fish~
~Missing Albert, Molly, Radar & Daisy~
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