Hello, My name is Anthony and I have not been diagnosed with cancer yet. My story starts back in January of 2005. I had a open sore appear on the lateral side of my tongue and this lasted about 2 weeks. I went to my general doctor and he sent me to an oral surgeon. The oral surgeon removed the ulcer and sent it for biopsy. The biopsy came back negative.

I was happy for a few months and then I discovered a growth of skin, on the same left side of my tongue, but further back in my mouth. I went to an ENT and he removed this grown in April of 2005. The ENT sent this out for biopsy and it came back negative.

I was happy for about two weeks after that until I started experiencing a feeling of a lump in the back of my throat. This feeling is slightly to the left around the area were the uvula hangs down. This feeling is accompanied by a mild soreness that seems to come and go. So I went back to the ENT and he scoped me and explained he did not see anything. He said after two biopsies of other areas and having scoped you I don’t know what else to do for you.

I went to another ENT for a second opinion and after scoping me said he did not see anything that appeared to look suspicious of cancer. He said the left tonsil on the back of my tongue appeared to be slightly larger than the right, but he was not concerned about it. I waited about a week went back and he said he would take random samples of the back of my tongue to biopsy, just to give me peace of mind. I went back to my GP and explained this and she was not for it. She explained cutting pieces of your tongue out could give me further complications and she did not believe it was warranted at this point.

My GP sent me for a CT scan in April of 2005 and everything came back normal but stating slight enlargement of the palatine tonsils.

I then wen to another ENT for another opinion locally and he scoped me and said he did not see anything that reflected cancer or warranted a biopsy.

Then in May of 2005 I went to see a Head and Neck cancer specialist at Sloan Kettering in NYC. He reviewed my ct scan and my records and scoped me. He explained he did not see anything that he would recommend for biopsy. He said that there were no indications of any malignancies anywhere. He recommended that i did not go back to the ENT that suggested a biopsy of the back of my tongue.

At this point I decided to let it go for awhile and see what happens.

So about 9 months later I was still having the same symptoms and decided to go have another CT scan and see if there was any change. This scan basically showed the same results as the previous scan. Slight enlargement of the left palatine tonsil.

In January of 2006 I went back to the doctor at Sloan Kettering in NYC and he scoped me, reveied the 2nd CT Scan and explained he did not see any change at this point or anything that would justify a biopsy. He told me I did not have cancer and to forget about it. So I did up until currently.

I still have the same symptoms today and I believe the lump feeling that is slightly to the left side of my throat may be slightly larger and it is still accompanied with a dull pain that seems to come and go. It has been over 4 years of this symptom and from January of 2006 until know i did not go back to any other doctors.

My concern is the enlarged tonsil and the fact that these symptoms have not gone away. So I went back to the local ENT and scoped me this past Monday. He said everything looks normal and he does not see anything that raises suspicion of cancer. He did say he see’s what the doctor at Sloan kettering pointed out on his report as raised lymphoid tissue. He said that this is normal and many people have this but it does not raise any suspsions of cancer.

I called back to Sloan Kettering and explained to the doctor of my symptoms and my concern for cancer. The doctor explained that if it was cancer and it had started when my symptoms began in 2005 that I would for sure either have other major symptoms by know or I would not be here all together. He advised me that if I wanted to come back to be evaluated that I am welcome to, but he did not believe it was anything of urgency. He advised to follow up with the local ENT which I already did.

Can anyone shed some light on any of this for me.

I have smoked pot for many years and also have HPV. I do not smoke cig’s or drink much at all.

I am very concerned and don’t know who to believe.

Is the doctor at Sloan correct if this was cancer of the tonsil and this many years went by would i have other symptoms by know?

anthony you posted this questions many times over on OCF and had dozens of replies from some very very knowledgable people.Why do you think anyone here will tell you any different? for goodness sake listen to what has been said.