Thanks for both of your replys, its been helpful. I'm not really that worried as much as i was before, i suppose because it hasn't got any bigger and because my doctors don't suspect that anything untoward is going on. They didn't seem shocked or surprised by the tonsil, its enlarged sure enough but not very much, its tonsil shaped if that makes sense just bigger than normal rather than being described as abnormally enlarged or looking. I had a very slight sore throat but nothing enough for me to want to take pain killers and i have had a little bit of ear pain on the same side but that was mainly at the beginning 6 months ago, now i get the odd 2 seconds of pain but that's about it, my symptoms have not really changed and certainly haven't worsened else i would have been back to the doctors. I'm pretty hopeful about the 12th and realise that most of the stories on here are from people who have had to experience cancer already or going through it, so all i am doing is speculating as to what could be my problem.I have every faith in my doctors that if they had suspected anything, i would have already been to the hospital by now to have further tests, i know nothing is that black and white all the time, but after a dozen times of me going back and forth to them, i would have thought one out of the 3 doctors i saw would have thought about it being anything like cancer.
Thanks again for your replies and i'll keep you informed. Even if its nothing i may have to have it out, so i may be asking the whats surgery like question as i haven't had an operation before.
Do you mind me asking if you are a smoker/ drinker and how old you were when diagnosed Jennie

Hi,

One other thing I forgot to mention before, that your latest posting has reminded me of, was that I was having quite a bit of pain. Just a normal sort of sore throat, but I was taking painkillers, either paracetomol or ibuprofen quite regularly. I think that I realised something was really wrong when I looked on top of the microwave and saw about half a dozen boxes of painkillers, as I had started to buy some every time I went to the shops.

I started smoking when I was 16, and continued until I had my son when I was 28. After that I didn't smoke, but I used some nicotine replacement products, and I had used gum for about 10 years before I got the cancer. You're only supposed to use it for a few months but I was addicted and couldn't give it up. I have discussed this with my doictor, and he doesn't think that the gum was the trigger. I used to drink fairly moderately, a couple of glasses of wine in the pub, two or three times a week. I was 45 when I was diagnosed, quite a statistical rarity, which is why my doctor didn't suspect cancer when I first went to see him. It was only after repeated visits, and because the tumour was increasing, that they began to suspect what it turned out to be.

Good luck on the 12th, I hope everything turns out OK. Please do let us know.

Sedge, I would have thought by now you would have had at least a ct scan if the docs were in any way worried about you. I had a lump in my neck which everyone thought was a cyst given my age 47 never smoked and a couple of galsses of wine at the weekend. I had ct and Pet scansnwhich revealed i had secondary in neck and primary on my left tonsil.
I was in hospital having it all removed within 2 weeks.
You are doing the best thing and getting it all checked- good luck and come back to us all with your news


Anne

I bet they told you it was a branchial cyst.

It's a standard "fobbing off" answer.

Thanks Jenni and Anne for your replys.
Not long now until i hopefully find something out.
I also thought Anne, that if there had been any sign for them to think about, i would have been in, which is a question i asked the last doctor and she said if she thought anything was untoward she wouldn't have messed about with getting blood tests and swabs done and she just told me to stop worrying, which is easier said than done, we all know.
I asked your age etc Jenni, because this type of cancer does seem to be more prominent in men and in those of over a certain age, but then cancer doesn't really care about age. I do smoke, same as you since i was 16, i have tried to give up, but failed, so i have promised myself that if i get some good news on the 12th i will have one more to celebrate and then throw the rest away. I only really drink when i go out and i have never been one for drink anyway, there isn't many i like to be honest, but i know the smoking is enough of a problem on its own, so hopefully i can hit it on the head.
Just one other thing for you Jenni and Anne, with regard to the problem tonsil, did either you ever inspect the tonsil after you had been to the doctors initially?
Thanks

hi Sedge,
I have never had a sore throat or problem with my tonsils- even when I had a cold. They looked perfectly normal- so a bit of a shock when they said i had cancer there!
Anne

Hi Sedge,

I could see that my tonsil was enlarged just by looking in the mirror and opening my mouth. Mind you I always did have large tonsils, and had frequent bouts of Tonsilitis. I did get food trapped around the enlarged one, and it would be really irritating, so I would try and move it with my finger and nail. this led to occasional bleeding. It's funny I don't remember all of this stuff until someone asks the right questions.

Even though you could see that one tonsil was enlarged the cancer was still at a very early stage when they caught it.

It's great that your doctor doesn't suspect that it is cancer, so do try to follow the advice and stop worrying. It probably is nothing to worry about, and even if it isn't, if you have caught it early you'll have done the best that you can.

Ok, thanks for your reply Jenni, i was just wondering if you had noticed it, thats all because i looked at some pictures on the net after doing a search for images to see exactly what they may looked like if its cancerous and they all looked pretty nasty, rather than enlarged but a normal shape, these were uneven and looked like bits of flesh that had kind of grown right up to the roof of the mouth almost but across it at the top towards the dangly bit ( can't remember the exact name for that bit), so that made me feel better but as i have said before i guess it shows differently in some cases, and like with Ann, hers wasn't even enlarged.
I am really trying hard not to worry but i will be a bag of nerves on Tuesday that's for sure.
Thanks again for your reply.

Hi just adding something else, and i don't think i mentioned it before or if it may have any connection at all.

About two weeks before my enlarged tonsil was noticed in June, both myself and my daughter caught Hand, Foot and Mouth cause by the Coxsackie virus, for those that don't know what this causes, you get ulcers/blisters inside the mouth, palms of your hands or fingers and the bottoms of your feet and toes.

As i said both me and my daughter had this, normally adults are immune as they have come into contact with it before, but this was the second time both me and my daughter had it, we had it first a year ago to this month and then again in the middle of May.
I only remembered me having this because i was looking back in my diary and noticed a doctors appointment for my daughter as i assumed pains in her mouth meant ulcers and the HFM was back, i was correct and a few days later i had contracted it from her.
I was using a little bottle of something i think called Albesol which is an antiseptic and anesthetic, its really good stuff if anyone ever needs something like that, and basically you apply it with the fingertip.

So my first question that can probably only be answered by a medical professional is, could what i have now be linked to the coxsackie virus, i.e for some reason still in my body? i assume if it was an ulcer on my tonsil it would hurt as the others did when i had HFM, and it doesn't hurt at all. Or secondly could the medication cause any adverse affects, i have read the bottle which said to only apply x number of times, which i probably did go slightly over on just so i could eat and drink, as they are extremely painful and uncomfortable.

Thirdly, all the sites about HFM say that its rare for adults to get it because of immunity, but i had it twice in less than 6 months. I did mention this to the last doctor i saw in September and she said it was a possible cause of the enlarged tonsil, but i can find no link whatsoever on the net, apart from the different Coxsackie viruses causing tonsilitus etc, which is what i saw on the computer screen at the doctors on my records-acute tonsillitus, but if it was that, the tablets i assume would have taken affect and or wouldn't still be enlarged now.
Well i have gone on a bit now, so if anyone can shed any light on this i would be greatful.
Also before i forget, i have had a pain on and off since the tonsil on the left side of my neck and the front, which only comes on when i bend down or stretch up, like a muscular pain, a little like when you get upset and you get that pain in the throat, although i wouldn't describe this as being in the throat but more in the neck.So wondering about the possible connection with GERD/ Acid reflux !

Sorry for going on and on, thanks for all your help and advice.I think i am desperately trying to find some other cause and its selfish of me really as there are so many people on here who have had and got on with it.

I am not normally religious but if anyone could keep their fingers crossed or pray for me on Tuesday i would be so greatful.
Thanks and best wishes to you all.

Hi there, well i have been to the ENT doctor today.
Short and sweet that was.
Nice man though. I told him my worried and he smiled and said you are too young for that, i was going to answer him back as i have seen messages from people younger than me with it, but i decided not to.
He had a look at the tonsil and said that is was enlarged but very normal looking, he said it may have been that way all my life, i am not so sure about that though.
he checked my neck and i told him about the glands or nodes i had felt in my neck, he didn't seem too bothered and just said i think we will take them out for you, i replied what both?, and he said yes.
So thats that, he said he doesn't think there is anything nasty with it and he said its not urgent, so i should be having them both out end of Jan beginning of Feb time.
Jeez, i have never had an operation before but i am not going to worry about that just now.
I am going to enjoy Christmas with my family and i hope everyone has the best Christmas they possibly can.

I have about 6 cigarettes left and the plan was that i got good news today i was going to have one to celebrate and then throw the rest away, but i think i was aiming to high, so i am going to savour each and every last one of them and its the last packet i am having.
Thanks to everyone for replying to me and trying to rationalise my fears.
I wish everyone the best ever christmas and New Year.
I am sure i may pop back here, so if anyone has any surgery tips, i would be grateful to know how you get through it etc..

Thanks