Is a tonsillectomy necessary for my child with asymmetrical tonsils?

My almost 5-year-old son has a very large tonsil on the right side, with a slightly swollen gland. His ENT doctor suggested a total tonsillectomy even though he said there's such a very slim chance of him having lymphoma. If there's a 99.9 percent chance it's not serious and he has no other symptoms, hasn't had tonsillitis or any throat infections ... why should we put him through this? He already had an adenoidectomy last year, and had a very bad reaction to the anesthesia. Any advice is appreciated!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Sometimes persistent enlargement of the tonsil can sometimes be due to a lymphoma. It would be worthwhile to see if other lymph groups are enlarged namely, axilla and groin, these can be palpated, the others like those in the chest or abdomen may need a CT to detect their enlargement. Sometimes the tonsil may be removed for histopathological study. If there is a doubt, then it needs to be checked out. Please discuss various options with your doctor am sure he will provide further assistance.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.