It's been the roughest month of my life. Hoping to get some insight and understanding. I have had a dull ear ache for a while now. It was only when I swallowed, but now there is a feeling of fullness all the time. It's not very painful, just annoying. I looked at my throat and noticed my left tonsil was larger than the right, and very noticeable. The left tonsil also took on a different shape, very lobular in appearance. I went to an ENT who said that the only way to know if something was going on was to remove the tonsil. I am having a tonsillectomy on the 17th of June. I decided to get a second opinion from another ENT just to give myself some answers. This ENT left me even more concerned. He found two enlarged lymph nodes on the left side as well. I had not quite noticed those because was so focused on the tonsils. And the first ENT didn't even mention the large cervical nodes. As a result, the second ENT is putting in a request to have the lymph nodes removed as well while getting the tonsillectomy. Both ENT's discussed HPV SCC with me. I am shocked, scared, and devastated. I know cancer does not discriminate, but right now my thoughts are consumed with leaving my daughters, ages 6 and 2 and my husband. Are there long term survivors out there who can offer me hope? Can anyone tell me their story, what brought them to the doctors initially and how it went from there? I am scared. Thank you so much.

JGavin