Hi Michelle,
My stage III/IV tonsil cancer had no sensation of pain at all. A dentist friend pointed out that is a worse possible scenario and it was. I originally thought I may have had a peritonsillar abcess (PTA) but absence of pain is not normal in PTA. PTA is very difficult to cure because of poor blood supply to where the infection is, so antibiotics are not very effective. PTA can take a very long time to cure and recurrence can be frequent.

I have a friend, with tonsil stones and I will contact him and see if he can shed any light.

Unless you are a heavy drinker and/or tobacco user, 33 is a little young for throat cancer, in general. Most of us who get this are older, many being in their mid 50's like I was. My radiation oncologist told me that she is starting to see more patients in their 30's and that is mainly because of starting heavy cigarette smoking in their teens.

Tonsillectomy, as an adult, is considered major surgery, so many ENT's like to avoid doing that.

The testing (and amount of visits) you have had so far seems reasonable and prudent. My head & neck surgeon doesn't use the scope much either, he prefers to "visualize" the area with mirrors and palpation.

Incidentally, an MRI might shed some light on the area also since they are especially good at capturing details in the soft tissue.

As Brian suggested earlier, a second opinion might bring you some relief from your fear. It does seem like a long time to suffer in any case.