Scared I have tonsil cancer

Good morning everyone...As a child I had both tonsils removed due to recurrent tonsillitis. Over the years I'd say for definate the last 10 my left tonsil has grown back and every year mostly during the month of October I would get tonsillitis on that one tonsil. So moving on to this year, a few weeks ago I suffered an awful painful left ear and my left lymph node was huge and very sore. Doctor didn't see me, just diagnosed an ear infection over the phone...I finished my course of antibiotics which seemed to help a bit but I was still getting some pain in my ear and neck. The doctor asked me to come in, upon checking my ears he could see no sign of infection, he then checked my throat and saw my huge left tonsil and could feel my left lymph node, he said due to my symptoms he was going to fast track me to ENT. Within a week I was seen at my local hospital, had camera up my nose and down my throat, consultant said he was going to book me for MRI with contrast and book me for surgery to get the tonsil out,  I had the MRI done within a week and then a week later was admitted to have the tonsil removed, during surgery he also took biopsys from further down my throat. After thinking about my symptoms I realized that I have had issues with my ears for around 2 years now, I have constant ringing and a whooshing noise that comes and goes, also they crackle if I was listening to loud music or if someone was talking loudly. I am on day 4 post surgery and awaiting my results, I am also day 4 no smoking, I have smoked for over 20 years and used to be a heavy drinker (been sober for 3 years now) My recent smear test also came back as abnormal and hpv positive which is worrying me more as I know thanks to doctor google that tonsil cancer and hpv are closely linked. Please can anyone share any advise or experiences with me, I'm 37 and a mum of 3 boys.

Thank you, Clare

  • Hello Clare, 

    I just wanted to welcome you to Cancer Chat. I hope you are recovering well from surgery and that you are not in too much pain. I can imagine you are very nervous as you are awaiting those important results. Well done for being on your 4th day without smoking and for being sober for 3 years! I hope it hasn't been too hard for you and if you feel you need support to help you stop smoking, do contact your GP I am sure they will be able to support you with this. That good old doctor Google is definitely not to be trusted so try not to draw any conclusions yet even though I can understand why you are worried that there may be a link between the two. It's good though that you had this smear test so that they can also treat these abnormal cervical cells.

    So it's all just a waiting game for you now and that is often described here as the hardest thing of all. The best thing to do to avoid thinking too much about this is to keep busy and distracted if you can and to stay well away from that Dr Google. I can imagine it is hard for you to do this at the moment but it will help you feel a little less anxious. 

    I hope you will also hear from others here who have been through all this before and that they will be along soon to share their story with you. 

    Keeping everything crossed for you that everything turns out fine. Keep us updated if you get a chance when you find out more.

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

     

  • Hi Lucie, thank you for replying to my post.

    Since my last post I did contact my G.P, the pain in my ear got too much and I was not able to eat or drink anything, I was struggling to swallow my own spit. Thankfully my G.P prescribed me morphine sulfate liquid which helped immensely and I'm now on my 3rd day of eating and drinking   I'm also still not smoking . I had a follow up appointment booked for the 18th May but the hospital rang me this morning asking me if I could come in this afternoon at 16:15 and that my results were back. I'm very concerned as it's only been 8 days since I had my op and the biopsies were sent off, does it mean it's likely to be cancer if they have come back so quickly and that my consultant wants to see me so soon? I'm beside myself with worry.

    Clare

  • Just wanted to let anyone know reading my thread that I got the all clear!! No cancer!! The surgeon took a large amount of tissue surrounding the nasty tonsil as the tonsil was riddled with chronic infection....I am so relieved. I am still experiencing some pain in my throat and ear but i am definately on the road to recovery. 

    Clare