I'm 47 years old, non smoker, drink so little it probably doesn't count (maybe 2 beers a month), have had for sure one girl i dated for a few years (several years back) that had been diagnosed with HPV and had cervical cancer concerns (polyp removal & biopsy) that didn't amount to anything for sure back then & to this day i think.

a year or so back i had to go to the hospital to get food dislodged from my throat. the doctor didn't see anything with the scope that alarmed him or appeared cancerous. said i had a benign esophageal stricture and recommended throat dilation if problems persist.

the difficulty with swallowing food always seems on relation to my hurriedly eating things without drinking a little something first. i try to chew a little more, drink water with meals & slow down with my eating. if this problem has gotten progressively worse I'm not aware of it.

sometime in January i noticed one of my tonsils looked different than the other one. didn't think much of it at the time, figured I'd keep an eye on it. fast forward to now & i can say that it's definitely gotten larger. i feel fine, no infection I'm aware of, no swollen lymph nodes.

so, i do some research on why it is my tonsil might be swollen and, from much investigation, the possibility of it being due cancer seems to be a very realistic possibility. I'm basing this on my risk factors, symptoms & comparing my tonsil picture to pictures of cancerous tonsils on the internet.

another separate (or maybe related situation, i can't say) situation is my tonsils getting occasional tonsil stones in them. i try to keep them cleaned out, limit my dairy intake, brush & floss religiously, gargle with salt water, basically try to keep them in check. because of this though, I've been wanting to get my tonsils out and am basically ready to do that (financially as well as personally).

for reasons which don't matter at this point, i don't have health insurance. if i did, i would have already pursued investigation/ treatment of whatever this is. i do have the money to have a tonsillectomy at a cash based medical facility in my state. i called them today & am waiting for a call back regarding the surgery.

my questions are -

1. what, if anything else, can cause just one tonsil to progressively swell over the period of a few months that isn't accompanied by some symptoms that would present themselves with an infection or feeling sick?

2. if this were to be cancerous and in it's early stages, given my lack of health insurance, doesn't it makes sense to spend my money trying to do something (cutting it out) versus pursue a definitive diagnosis and have to stop there from lack of funds to move forward. my concern here is catching it before it metastasises. (I've read of first hand accounts of people doing this, i just couldn't find those posts (not here necessarily) to ask those persons to expand on their situations.

* I'm looking to be that much more knowledgeable in preparation to speak to the surgery center.

sorry that was long, i look forward to any opinions.

Thank you for posting. Please understand that we are a group of chances surviviors and caregivers who do not have the medical training that doctors have. For this reason, it is inappropriate for us to try and diagnose what your problem may be , it would be most irresponsible of us and you would not want us to do that anyway. If it is cancerous, it may be that surgery alone may not solve the problem, you may need to have radiation and/or chemo as part of the treatment as many members of the forum have had. It really isn’t possible for us to say how things will go one way or the other. The best is for you to consult a medical practitioner. All the best to you.

i wasn't asking for anyone to diagnose me. clearly that would be impossible.

the first question i asked was what other things can cause just one tonsil to swell, not what's causing my tonsil to swell. that's a very generalized, not specific to me question.

my second question was asked as i was hoping someone possibly approached their situation by having their tonsil removed at the first sign of problems and could share their experience with me.


thanks for your time regardless

Mike, your questions arent easy to answer! We have people who come here after searching Dr Google asking us questions about things besides what our site specializes in... oral cancer. As non-medical professionals, our knowledge of things other than oral cancer, treatments, and recovery often are very limited. This would include knowing what could cause only one tonsil to swell, tonsil stones, tonsillectomies, etc. Its impossible to answer questions about medical conditions that we have never been exposed to.

The choices on which path to take regarding medical decisions are not easy ones to make. These choices should be thoroughly discussed with a medical professional who specializes in these types of things. A second opinion from an experienced medical professional is also important to ensure you are making the best possible choices. As a group of oral cancer patients and caregivers, we do not have the knowledge or medical background to give you a complete, legitimate answer to your questions. In my opinion, it seems irresponsible for a doctor to perform surgery on an area that may (or may not) contain cancer without first checking for cancer. If you decide to do a tonsillectomy and your physician sends samples from the removed tissue to the lab to determine if there is any cancer sounds risky to me. If cancer would be detected after the surgery, you may need another surgery to ensure all the cancer has been removed plus a wide enough margin to get every single cancerous cell. By having a biopsy done, you would know for certain if you have cancer then act accordingly with treatment plans made up by oncologists. Reading and educating yourself about all of your medical issues will help you to become a strong advocate for yourself.

Oral cancer is NOT something that many dentists and family doctors are overly familiar with. The symptoms arent always bothersome enough for patients to realize they have something serious going on. Who would think a mild sore throat or an ear aches could be cancer? If you have not already been seen by an ENT who specializes in treating oral cancer patients, Id advise this would be your first step. Having or not having medical insurance shouldnt be the deciding factor in your health decisions. There are many financial aid programs all over the US that are in place to help under or uninsured patients. If you would have cancer, it can be a life or death situation that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. Cancer isnt something to play around with, or to put a price tag on. I do completely understand when patients have difficult treatment choices to make based on their insurance and financial situations. But, please do not delay in getting yourself checked out. April is Oral Cancer Awareness month. You may find some places that do free oral cancer screenings in your area.

For many years, doctors avoided removing tonsils of any adult. I wasnt aware this was now something that patients could request to be done. I had a friend who had her tonsils out many years ago. From what I remember, she was kept in the hospital only a couple days. She was in quite alot of pain and discomfort for at least the first few days after the surgery. Her eating and speaking were greatly impacted for at least 10 days. The recovery was a good 6+ weeks before she felt well enough to go about her regular active lifestyle and diet.

Ive added a couple links that should be able to help you. The first link is to our free oral cancer screening events section of the main OCF website. The second one is to our Understanding section of our main OCF site. This will help you to read thru page after page of info that will help you to better understand oral cancer, getting diagnosed, treatments, etc.

Best wishes with everything!


Main Oral Cancer Foundations site, Free Screenings Info

Main OCF site, Understanding, Diagnosis, Treatment, etc