Becoming a Chow - Literally

Last Friday night, we decided to try a new restaurant that served Vietnamese food. I love fresh spring rolls and am in the process of scouring the culinary wastelands of northern Florida for new dining experiences. I work for a non-profit, so have budgetary concerns, but I like good food!

Back to the subject at hand.... Anyway after consuming a couple of spring rolls and beef with bohk choy, I thought my tongue felt strange. It felt like something was stuck to it, so I proceeded to rub it against my teeth to dislodge the miscreant molecules. That didn't seem to work, so I finally asked my dining companion to look at my tongue. I couldn't find a mirror. Lo and behold, I had a large black spot on my tongue about 1" in diameter. I was alarmed. Was I transforming into a black-tongued Chow? I didn't remember biting my tongue and besides this spot was not anywhere near the edge, but closer to center. Did a piece of metal or glass become lodged in my tongue while eating? Did an insect bite me? I had to have surgery on my finger last year for necropic tissue caused by a spider bite. I called my mother, who lives 1,000 miles away, to describe my malady. Now, she was alarmed. The consensus was that I should go to the Acute Care clinic a few blocks away. Now, the embarrassing part begins. I saw the doctor. The same one I saw me a few weeks ago for a large tennis ball size hematoma on the back of my hand. I had hit my hand sharply against my desk and it had blown up in a matter of seconds to alarming proportions. Are we getting the trend here ..."alarming"! The diagnosis was a broken blood vessel that would go away on its own. I was not taking any blood thinners, so I should be fine in a few days and all traces would be gone. Oh gees, now I am seeing the same doctor for my alarming BLACK-spotted tongue. He diagnoses it as a bruised tongue. However, they decide to rule out any foreign objects by x-raying this body part. The technician says, "this wasn't covered in my textbooks, but I'll try". I mention to her that I have old silver fillings, so I will have to try and stick my tongue out away from my teeth. After all this, no foreign objects are found and the diagnosis is still a bruised tongue. My reputation for being a sane person is damaged and I hope I won't have to go back to that clinic for a long time.