Enlarged tonsil reveals cancer
In February, Rotorua resident Gareth Gillies had a slight tickle in his throat. By March, that tickle had become a cough. He promptly visited his GP where he was told his tonsil was swollen and needed to be removed. Two months later, it had tripled in size and Gillies was finding it hard to sleep.
“When I went to the hospital for my pre-surgery checkup, the doctor took one look at it and said there was an 80 to 90% chance that it was cancer on my right tonsil. I was put on the urgent operating list. I had lots of blood tests, MRI, a CT scan and then I had my operation in May.”
A biopsy was sent away and Gillies received the shocking news that it had, indeed, been cancer.
