Hello bakergirl. I'm new here but I am 3 weeks post surgery for what they said was squamous cell carcinoma that was in my left tonsil. Anyway I had the same symptoms. Thought I had severe congestion
And the stabbing pain in the ear. Turns out that pain in ear is called pain transferrence, something to do with a nerve that is close to the tonsil. This constant pain got me to the Dr. Of Ent. They biopsied my tonsil found it was cancerous and that it was caused by the HPV virus. My early diagnosis saved me from having
To go through radiation or chemo. As they were able to get all the cancer with surgery. Best of luck to you.