Thank you all for your responses. Shamefully I have been ignoring my tonsil problems as work is busy and I have been planning a vacation over 4th July and wanted to wait until after that to sort this out, but a few days ago I took another look and I think it's worse. The red plaque on my left anterior tonsillar pillar has spread beyond the pillar and there are now several exophytic lumps growing out of my left tonsil as well as one lump from the same tonsil growing down into my throat where I can't see. ALSO, I got retested and still have high risk HPV in another part of my body and it's just not going away...so...I guess I should get a workup soon.

Is it even possible for HPV tonsil cancer to develop in such a short time as 18 months?

To answer your question angel1313, my tonsil has been enlarged anywhere from 2 months (which is when I first noticed) to 18 months (which is when I contracted HPV, though I have not yet had the appropriate workup to tell me that my tonsil problem is HPV-related yet it seems the only plausible cause).

I am going to get in touch with David today as we both live in FL and he has done well with his tx at Moffitt. I do not really want local ENTs here handling my case from the start as I will probably be laughed at and shuffled around (I've had several surgeries and lots of experience with specialists before) and I wonder if it's possible to go directly to a CCC like Moffitt or Shands (johnny47, does Shands in G'ville even have a CCC?) or will they simply look at me like I'm kooky and send me out the door with a referral to see a psychiatrist?

Thanks.