Got some great news, the lab results came back and they didn't show anything other than inflammation!

I'm supposed to go back to see the ENT later this week so hopefully I can still get some of my more questions answered in person. It sounds like the doctor is pretty confident that irritation from the calcified area was causing the inflammation and painful symptoms but I'm still not clear on whether that resulted from something external getting caught in the lingual tonsil or what. I haven't experienced the very painful symptoms that I had before surgery at all this week so it seems like he was probably correct about the source of the problem.

Once again I'm super grateful for the comments and encouragement on the forum here. All the best to all you folks, and I hope you have an amazing holiday season!