I had the exact same thing as you. I discovered my left tonsil was massive one day. As you may have learned, HPV P16+ is a good factor for treatment and prognosis.
I had surgery to remove the tonsil but it was not TORS (Transoral Robotic Surgery) , just a standard tonsillectomy for the purpose of biopsy I was told. I didn’t know about theTORS option at the time. Not one of the doctors I consulted with knew anything about NavDX. Or they refused to see a way to include it in “standard of care”. My post surgery PET scan was very clean so not being able to use NavDX data was really frustrating.

After my surgery I had no demonstrable tumor or lymph involvement. So radiation treatment was complicated to prescribe. One Doctor wanted to include chemo but changed his mind after consulting with the “Tumor Board” at another hospital who recommended no chemo. But they say there were “positive margins” on the tonsil which indicated that cancer cells were left behind. So radiation was prescribed. I ended up getting referred for proton beam therapy at another hospital over an hour away.

I finished treatment on 03/19/26. So I’m almost three months post treatment. The proton radiation shredded my skin. I think photon radiation might be slightly easier on the skin. It was difficult to open my mouth for about two weeks before I finished til about two weeks after treatment. Still stiff. I’m noticing the neck fibrosis that you read about. I do have some lymphatic drain issues but not horrible. I’ve read where some people have a very difficult time after their lymph system has been damaged by radiation.

On my skin I used calendula cream which helped my skin recover very well and eased discomfort. Do NOT use calendula OINTMENT, it’s petroleum based and tends to pull dead skin off. It’s very difficult to manage. The cream is water based. The ointment might be better for people with burns who want to create a skin “barrier”. My skin has healed very well.

I do have dry mouth, mostly over night, not as bad as I expected. I keep a glass of herbal tea on my nightstand and sip very small amounts to rebalance the moister in mouth. I sometimes mix in a teaspoon of honey which is good for it’s healing properties. I sip it as soon as the discomfort wakes me. It seems to help.

The most pronounced symptom for me is that my soft palate and back of my throat has been altered in such a way that I can no longer expel phlegm through my mouth (Hock and spit) from post-nasal drip so I’m forced to swallow it. I’ve always had sinus congestion problems at night so this has been difficult. In short, my throat opening (below the soft palate) is much smaller now. That seems to be a product of surgery and made worse by radiation.

My nasal cavity and the back of my throat felt like a dry burn for several weeks. It’s much better now. I irrigate with saline mist into my nose and use homeopathic throat spray. I’m hoping that my anatomy returns to close to what it used to be.

Wishing you the best for your recovery!

Hang in there!