Tonsil Cancer? Any experience or knowledge? *PICTURE*

[HereForTheHelp]

I know this isn't a place to get medical advice but I think I just need a push to either get over myself and stop worrying OR actually go to the GP.

I get tonsillitis quite frequently, I'd say about every 12-14 weeks or so for the last year. After the last bout (8 weeks ago) I noticed a small lump just behind my left tonsil, didn't think much of it as thought it was just swelling.

It hasn't gone away and it has gotten bigger. I'm probably about to start another mild tonsillitis flare up, they're a bit red and sore but the lump is what's concerning me most. Obviously I've done some googling, which probably hasn't helped. I don't smoke or drink so I'm not a super high risk factor, but it is worrying me a bit.

Anyone got any thoughts or experience?

That looks like swollen adenoids to me, op. I highly doubt it's cancer. Just go to your gp and get it sorted. You need to relax.

@Aquamarine1029 oooh okay, aren't adenoids at the back of the throat rather than to the side? The GP has commented that they've been swollen in the past when I've been getting examined for tonsillitis but it was never visible like this.

To be clear, I'm not convinced I have cancer or anything like that, just wondering if I need to get it looked at or not :)

It’s a mini tonsil bollock.

Do go to your GP. It could be a cyst or who knows what. Best to get your mind at rest ASAP.

It could also be a bad case of tonsillitis, too. Go to the gp and don't be concerned about wasting their time. That's their job.

@BareKneesDeCourcy a tonsil bollock, that's one I haven't heard before and really made me laugh

Thank you, I'll go get it checked out. I'm so sick of having tonsillitis, they get manky and covered in white stuff. Then they're that scarred that I'm constantly getting tonsil stones in all the cracks and crevices 😩

Ah it’s shit isn’t it? I had my tonsils out in January this year, after 20 years of tonsil stones. Great I thought.

Very quickly I grew one little tiny tonsil back on the left. It has recently begun to collect stinky crap again. I despair!

Get rid if you can though. The op was still well worth it.

@BareKneesDeCourcy everyone has told me it's an awful op, but all these infections are really taking their toll!

I'll admit, I can't find what a tonsil bollock is, but the name as amused me 😂
It's the fact it keeps getting bigger that's making me a bit anxiously. I'll try and get a GP appointment on Monday to put my mind at ease (and probably get more antibiotics for the bout of tonsillitis that's going to hit over the weekend!)

The op itself is absolutely fine. It takes a couple of weeks to recover, and days five to ten (roughly) you will feel like there’s a skewer through your ears.

Some say it’s worse than childbirth but I’ve never given birth so I don’t know.

You just need someone nearby to check you’re not bleeding to death and to fetch hardcore pain meds.

GP and antibiotics is a great plan.

Maybe the dinky dangly tonsil bollock contains your evil twin.

My dh had tonsil cancer 3 years ago, he had low risk factors . He found a lump on his tonsil which the GP insisted was nothing and basically suggested he was making a fuss, we went to dentist who did urgent referral to hospital dental department. The hospital dentist took one look and said he was almost 100% certain it was cancer. He was correct and dh had tonsils out followed by chemo and radiotherapy, he is ok now. The point I am trying to make is that any possible throat cancer should be evaluated by a specialist. Many people would have believed their GP and gone away thinking they were ok. Throat cancer is increasing and often associated with the HPV virus. Interestingly dh's consultant said that the reduction in children having their tonsils out in the past 40 years has contributed to the increase now. Please insist on getting it checked it might be nothing but it needs reviewing.

Thank you @dottycat123 I'm glad your DH is okay now

Can you remember what the lump looked like, was it anything similar to this? I think with the amount I get tonsillitis and throat infections, that they'll just brush it off as normal swelling. But my left tonsil is now always visible, my right isn't though. My left is always bigger and I think that's not normal

@BareKneesDeCourcy how did you go about getting them out btw? I've asked a few times about it but they're dead set on not referring me until I've had it 8 times in 12 months. I've probably had it about 6 times but only 3 bouts needed antibiotics, dunno if that makes a difference?

Hello again (sorry I’ve changed my name!).

Well for me it was a case of mentioning it (stinky tonsil stones) to drs over the years and getting fobbed off every time. Then after 20 years of this nonsense, I actually saved some of the stones in a little container and made my dr sniff it!

She made the ENT referral and applied for exceptional circumstances funding for tonsillectomy, to make me go away!

I’m a pushy pain in the arse.

Another thought, if the dinky bollock doesn’t make them sit up and take notice, could you afford to go private? I would imagine a tonsillectomy would not be outrageously expensive as operations go.

If the ENT consultants in your area do private as well as NHS work you can have a private first appointment, where they examine you and work out a treatment plan and then go on their NHS list.

It's just an expensive way of cutting out the GP referral

8 times is crazy. My area is 6 times and I wasn’t quite getting that. And I work in theatres with ENT’s regularly with tonsils 4 times the size of yours. When I finally got a gp to refer me, as I was waking up not being able to breathe through my mouth (allergies give me a blocked up nose so basically no breathing). My colleague said the regularity of my tonsillitis should really have triggered a referral (3 times a year for a few years in a row should have been enough) and I was put straight on the list. Had surgery last month.

Looking at the amount of tonsils I’ve seen in my career though, it’s looks like a normal piece of scar tissue but check with your gp. Definitely not an adenoid as adults generally don’t have them and wrong place anatomically. They are up the back of the nose and you need a mirror to see them.

It looks like a tonsil polyp. Majority are benign. Definitely get it looked at in real life.

Please go and get it checked. I had treatment for an hpv tumour in my tongue earlier this year and I'd had a lump in my neck for 18 months before I went to my GP. It's far better to be safe than sorry.

@GinisLife oh that sounds awful, I'm definitely going to get it checked and maybe insist on seeing an ENT. My glands are swollen all the time on the left side, have been for about a year.

I think i have a regular throat infection at the moment rather than tonsillitis, it's like swallowing razor blades! But I prefer it to the pus filled tonsils I usually have 😂

So I'm going to go to the GP first thing in the morning for an appointment. My throat is awfully sore at the moment but nothing like the usual tonsillitis pain. It really hurts to swallow and feels like things are getting stuck, but my tonsils aren't patchy or super swollen so might just be run of the mill throat infection.

What questions do you think I should ask? I'm terrified of bringing it up in case I sound like an absolute crazy person (this is what years of being called dramatic by your parents does to you!)
But I think I am worried enough to do something about it. Do you think if they say it's nothing I should accept it and be happy? Or do you think I should push for an ENT referral?

Definitely push for ENT referral and tonsillectomy.

Surely with regular tonsillitis, stinky stones, current mini-bollock weirdness that REALLY needs looking at, and pain misery, they have to do something.

Good luck!

@HeavyMetalHoneyMonster I have an appointment for 5pm today with a female GP so I'm hoping I'm a bit more confident with her than the males.

Feeling a bit panicky (and stupid, as it's probably nothing) I'm just terrible at waiting!

Good luck

I'm glad you're going. Please push for a referral. It probably is only tonsils but I thought mine was "only" left over from a tooth problem. How wrong was I !!

I had an unusual swelling on my tonsil earlier this year and after a round of antibiotics was referred to ENT on the " 2 week pathway". GP said she didn't think it was cancer but was being cautious. I was seen within the week and had a nasal endoscopy then & there. I was assured that it was a cyst and that it would come and go. It did go and has come and gone cyst. The consultant said my GP had done the right thing to refer me. He had a thorough look around my mouth & throat whilst I was there which was very reassuring. I'm a huge wuss but the nasal endoscopy was quick and easy.

How did it go at the doctor’s? I know what you mean about feeling like you won’t be taken seriously. They can be so dismissive.

I need to go about my little re-grown tonsil.

funmummy48

Oh the nasal endoscopy thingy is great fun isn’t it, always done as a surprise!

@HeavyMetalHoneyMonster I was in the doctors for all of 4 minutes! She said it was a polyp, took a look in my mouth and said I had a similar one on my right side too but I just couldn't see it. She said because I had one on either side it meant it was okay?
She said me having my left tonsil always bigger than the right was normal, which isn't what I've heard from any other doctor. She just said that if it gets any bigger I'm to come back but only if food is getting stuck as I swallow. I'm already so aware of it when I'm eating because I can feel everything catching on it.

I'm not sure what to think, I thought I'd feel so much better about having gone but she was quite sure that I'm absolutely fine, which is good obviously! I think I would rather see an ENT though