One tonsil bigger than the other… worried sick

Hi I’m a new poster. I have been quite rundown the last couple of months. I had a sore throat in October and was taking paracetamol and ibuprofen it went away on it’s own and a couple of days later I was brushing my teeth and noticed my right tonsil was enlarged with white dots on. I went to the urgent care centre and they said i had an absess on my tonsil they sent me away with antibiotics. The tonsil has never gone down. Folllwing this I have  had numerous colds and sore throats  and generally felt like ***.

i ended up at the doctors last week as I have been suffering with a chesty cough and she diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection and gave me more antibiotics. She sent me for a chest x ray which came back clear and bloods which were normal. She noticed my right tonsil was still enlarged and referred me onto ENT. 

I have been to see the ENT consultant today and she asked me lots of questions and had a look at my tonsils.. She has scheduled for me to have a tonsillectomy straight away to have them removed and sent off for testing. I am worried sick now as of course I have been on Google and the first things that comes up is tonsil concer and throat cancer. 

I have a lot of health anxiety at the moment as I have recently lost my mum to cancer - I have been reading some of people past experiences on here and it does seem quite rare and a lots of people have positive outcomes but I suppose I just need a little bit of reassurance? 

  • Hello kenny1986, 

    A warm welcome to our friendly forum. I am so sorry to hear you are feeling so anxious about your health at the moment - it's certainly understandable if you recently lost your mum to cancer - our sincere condolences too. Try not to worry too much though about tonsil cancer as there are so many conditions which may have caused these issues - it's good that they are being thorough and that you got to see the ENT consultant. I hope that the tonsillectomy goes well and don't be alarmed by the fact it will be sent off for testing. Do not pay any attention to what Google may have told you as it will often give you the worst possible outcomes with no real medical knowledge of your particular situation. 

    While you are waiting to find out more, there are helpful tips on this page to help you cope while waiting for important news. We're keeping everything crossed for you that it all turns out to be nothing of concern and that you can put all this behind you soon. I hope that you will hear from other members of our community who have had a tonsillectomy before and similar tonsil issues and that they will be along shortly to share their experience with you. 

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator