Paul,

What another tough chapter in your story!

So, unfortunately, the appointment wasn’t much different than what I’ve encountered thus far. Though the doctor listened to my concerns/symptoms (despite having my full record from the other ENTs available to her), she supported their findings but not with any more information, as I had hoped.

She did concur that my right tonsil is larger. She denied the presence of any signs of infection or tonsil stones. Which was surprising because the ENT I saw Tuesday mentioned both and was going to put me on augmentin though I think she forgot as I haven’t got notice of it being called in. I can definitely see “debris” in the tonsil crypts but it does appear to wipe off rather than pop out, as I expect a stone would.

I asked her about the lymph nodes and she stated she wasn’t concerned with them. She said they are not pathologically enlarged. I asked about a biopsy of the nodes and she said they are too small and she wouldn’t be able to get an adequate sample. Plus, if they contained cancer cells, we would have to go back in to look for the primary anyway. This was after she said that it was a “gray area” when the tonsil was enlarged but not in a worrisome way and it appeared healthy. She said a biopsy would be the only way to know but that she wasn’t stating that was necessary. She kind of left that to me I guess. I told her I didn’t want that unless she felt I was putting myself at further risk by not, she didn’t really answer but ordered a follow-up CT for late September (3 months after the last one), to see if the tonsils had changed. She said several times “tonsil carcinoma usually presents itself over time... it’s been 6 weeks since your CT and it hasn’t presented itself yet.” I could only guess she meant a pathologically large lymph node appearing or a visible mass on the tonsil.

She gave me another TMJ handout. Almost verbatim from the one ENT 2 gave me (complete with typos!) Told me to ask my dentist about a bite plate. Do some exercises. Use some heat. Take ibuprofen regularly. See me back with any changes.

I’m stuck somewhere between feeling like this is a story I’ve read a few times here before. You know, the watch and wait (she actually used those words) and then the progression and dx. And then I tell myself that she and 3 others had no concerns regarding cancer and are aware that that’s my concern... so there have also been plenty of folks on here who get the “it’s all OK!” And don’t question it, and probably, it is, right? I’m only reading about the few who were missed not the many who were in fact, ok? I asked if she had seen many benign asymmetrical tonsils and she said “yes, tons”.

So that’s all I have for now, I guess this is my last post. Thank you all for following my story, lending an ear to listen to my thoughts/fears, and giving me so much of your time and support. You cant imagine how much having someone taking me seriously has meant to me. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime and I dont know how I would have coped without Kristens help. Paul I appreciate all the in depth research you have done to learn so much about oral cancer, thanks for sharing it with me. For now its best if I try to begin putting everything behind me, at least for now until I can sort this out better.