This is sort of a long question, but I want to state all the facts and I'm not sure they are all related. Its been a weird sequence of events. Back in early December, my wife and I were on vacation visiting her family in Mexico. While there, I ate at many taco and torta stands because they are so delcious. I then came down with what appeared to be stomach flu or food poisoning symptoms, I threw up, had chills, extreme exhaustion, and couldn't eat. This lasted about 2 days. Then the day we left (3 days after I recovered from the stomach flu) I came down with an extremely sore throat and what appeared to be a sinusitis like condition. I could hardly breathe through my nose, I was blowing out yellow mucus, and felt miserable. I have battled sinus infections in the past and can usually recognize the symptoms. My throat was also really red around the tonsil area, in the arches above the tonsils. When we got back home to the US, I called and made an appointment at an ENT clinic. I didn't want to wait the 8 days it took to get an appointment, so I went to my primary Dr. He prescribed me a 5 day antibiotic pack or Azithromycin. My sinus cleared up and the intense pain in my throat subsided. By this time my ENT appointment came so I went to the ENT and explained all this. I showed her the antibiotic pack and she said she thought I was on the road to recovery and was not concerned by my redness symptoms since I didn't feel pain by that point. She said if I didn't feel pain, then I shouldn't worry but if the pain returned to come see her. The problem is that the redness in the arches above my tonsil area has not gone away. In addition, since I first noticed the redness in December I have also had a bulbous lumpy mass of tissue slightly larger than a tic tac mint on one side on the outer tonsil tissue area. There is no real pain when I swallow but I do feel some discomfort from the lumpy mass when I swallow. I went back to this same ENT on 1/25 because the redness didn't go away and the lumpy mass was still there. She says she didn't see anything that concerned her and that she sees lots of mouths and my mouth is not in the shape that would cause her concern. I came away feeling like my 1/25 appointment was a waste of time. She was not at all concerned about the lumpy mass. I look in the mirror every morning and evening to see if my arched above the tonsils have changed at all and they have been red for over 2 months now. Has anyone experienced this? Can someone give me a clue what this is and what I can or should do about it?