While I would like to totally blame that ENT for my misfortune, I certainly took my sweet time getting my tonsils out. I had a CAT scan 9 mos before surgery that said---Cryptic Tonsil, NO EVIDENCE OF MALIGNANCY. I took that to heart and took my time scheduling surgery. I was told I had a 2% chance of it being a malignancy.Great odds , I thought. I was young and healthy, just a little tired. I didn't miss any work. I myself thought it was no big deal. Whoever heard of tonsil cancer?? So I feel I must take part of the blame for not getting this done sooner. A different ENT performed my surgery---imagine his surprise when he discovered it. Imagine my surprise as he told me as I came out of anesthesia. Needless to say I am now under the care of the second ENT. Oh, and I also learned at Dana Farber that CAT scans do not usually pick up malignancies. Wish I knew now what I knew then