Enlarged tonsil- urgent ENT referral

[Aestas]

Just wondered if anyone could offer any advice/share a similar experience as this is playing on my mind a lot.

I first noticed I had one tonsil bigger than the other whilst I was pregnant and didn’t think much of it- pregnancy makes you swell in funny places, right? I have recently developed a feeling of pressure/swelling in my throat and looked in the mirror to see it is now much bigger and lumpy looking- no sore throat, no signs of infection, no redness. I made an appointment to see a (junior) GP. He said ‘Goodness- it is big, isn’t it?’ and said he could feel lumps in my neck which were ‘probably nothing to worry about’. Said he would refer to ENT- I specifically asked if this was an urgent referral- he said yes. He also said he’d ring me to let me know it had been sent (but didn’t).

Appointment has just come through and it is for June. Is this usual for an urgent referral? Does anyone have any advice on what to expect next? I have a 7mo baby so feeling quite anxious about it all.

How did you get on?

Urgent referrals are usually 2 weeks as far as I'm aware.

Aww op that’s a lot to deal with, especially with a wee one!

Where I am there are 3 tiers of referral - routine, urgent and urgent suspicion of cancer. Only urgent suspicion of cancer is 2 weeks.

The other waiting times will depend on the speciality and I’ve personally had an urgent referral take 12 weeks to come through (my optician suggested that the backs of my eyes looks like I had a brain tumour - I didn’t!). It could be that it has been sent urgently but waiting times are long.

Usually any referral to a specialist is vetted once it is received from the Gp so the specialist team have the opportunity to upgrade or downgrade referrals as they see fit. I don’t think it sounds like they’ve downgraded (where I am an ent referral is at least 6 months routine), but I’d be reassured that they didn’t think it needed to be seen within 2 weeks.

I hope that’s helpful. It doesn’t sound as though your Gp would be able to speed things up at the moment, but if your symptoms change or develop it would be worth letting them know so they can reassess. If you’re really worried sometimes a Gp appt to talk through those worries can be useful.

Just seen your original post was a while ago - sorry op!

Ahh that's ok, I appreciate the replies! Will update just in case anyone else goes through this!

I made another GP appointment and she clarified that it should have gone as urgent on the cancer pathway so redid it, and apologised. I saw the Consultant last week who was reassuringly blasé- was v confident it's not suspicious but as it is starting to feel uncomfortable he advised whipping them both out. He did offer MRI but said there wasn't much point if I was happy to have a tonsillectomy.

Got my pre-op end of this month so op should be shortly after.

Thanks for the advice

Hi OP,
Sounds like we're in the same position! I posted a couple of weeks ago about something very similar, I was also referred on the urgent cancer pathway. I had my tonsils removed as a child but the consultant believes it may be tonsil tissue regrowth so I'll be having it whipped out next week, they'll be testing it after to check no nasties so fingers crossed! Hopefully you'll not be waiting too long for your operation !

@Dancingfairydreams wishing you the best of luck with your op! I understand recovery can be worse as an adult. Do you remember much about it as a child?

I remember the silly bits like getting a new cuddly toy & eating jelly & ice cream for a week! But not the actual pain or aftermath. Speaking to friends who've had it done as adults I am lead to believe recovery is worse as an adult, and I understand now the emphasis is on eating pretty much straight away & eating hard foods as this aids recovery... not looking forward to that really!

Astounded and impressed that you have managed to get them to take them out. In Lambeth these tonsils (here photographed in non-infected mode) were not sufficiently large or concerning enough to be referred, even after SEVEN infections with GP consultations in a twelve month period!

Wowzers! You poor thing. Have you pushed for a ENT referral? My GP was useless but I saw the dentist in the end who referred to oral surgery & then they referred to ENT...might be worth seeing your dentist?

@Dancingfairydreams how are you doing? Assuming you are now sans tonsils! Hope it hasn't been too uncomfortable for you.

Not much advice bit this happened to dc, I noticed they where massive both sides at aged 2, was sent a urgent referral and within three weeks she was in having them out. They where sent away for testing and it came back as nothing. I know it's a worrying time but please try

My sister who is 18 had to have her tonsils out to check for cancer, one was as big as yours and had a slight point. The specialist told her they have to advise the operation either way as their is no other way to check, except biopsy once they're out

They were sure it was fine, but they had to do it, so hopefully it is the same for you

@aestas hi, thanks for asking, I had my surgery last week & am recovering well. The pain isn't as bad as I thought it would be, I have periods of immense pain but it's not constant so manageable with painkillers they gave. the worst part is trying to eat a normal diet with texture, eating is very painful, but taking painkillers before helps. I'll have a follow up in a few weeks to check the growth wasn't anything sinister.

Do you have a surgery date yet?

Thank you for the further replies- very reassuring, I'm feeling much better about it now. Now just looking forward to having it out so I'm not aware of it all the time. It's also interesting that this seems to be reasonably common.

@Dancingfairydreams that's great that it's not as bad as you thought, I hope the rest of the recovery is speedy for you. Have you found the pain has peaked a few days after like they say? Mine are out on the 10th May

It's really good to read this thread as I have been in a similar situation recently .. ENT referred me for a MRI as I have had tonsillitis quite constant since last Sept.. after the onset of glandular fever. Anyway one of my tonsils is like a marble and they just wanted to do mri to rule anything out then will proceed with getting them out. Seems daft as I think they should just whip them out.

Anyway I went for the mri and had a huge panic attack.. omg didn't realise they would put a mask thing over my face and one over my neck. I just felt caged in. So I had to come out of the mri 🙈. Felt really stupid but it scared me. So now I have to decide .. do I book another mri and this time just cope with it or should I go back to ENT.

Glad you got your appointment thru quite quickly.. thankgod u went back to a different gp .

Xxx

Hey @aestas just wanted to wish you good luck for tomorrow! Hope all goes well! I'm still waiting for my results, I've got an apt on the 15th

Have been reading this thread and just wanted to wish @aestas good luck for a quick recovery after your op tomorrow and @dancingfairydreams good luck for an all clear result at your follow up appointment on the 15th [santa]

No idea how Santa got in there but perhaps he's joining me in those wishes

Oh thank you @Dancingfairydreams and @LoadOfOldTosh, so nice of you to wish me luck! It was al straightforwards, amazing care, now home and resting up.

Dancing- how are you feeling now? I hope your recovery was smooth.

Delighted to hear it's all gone well @aestas. Hope you're back on your feet very soon