Doctors blame woman's 'cancer' on an old tattoo

We already know about the repeated warnings of tattoo ink, but this story absolutely has us convinced.

A woman from Australia is going viral after it was learned that her 'cancer' was just her body reacting to an old tattoo.

The unnamed 30-year-old was examined by doctors after discovering small lumps under her arms. After a body scan, doctors were able to identify additional enlarged lymph nodes throughout her chest, CNN revealed.

Doctors initially thought she had lymphoma -- a type of cancer that begins in the body's immune system -- because of the swollen lymph nodes. Lymph nodes also swell from infections in the body, under stress or illness, but she had no fever, weight loss or any other symptoms, according to the report included in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Said one of the woman's doctors Dr. Christian Bryant, "Ninety-nine times out of 100, (this) will be lymphoma." So, medical professionals were shocked to learn that her 'cancer' was merely her body's reaction to an old tattoo -- one probably from 15 years ago -- not cancer.

Upon removing a lymph node from her armpit, doctors discovered "a cluster of immune cells that were loaded with black pigment."

There aren't many cases like this, but doctors believe that the immune cells "found the tattoo pigment, a foreign substance, they ingested it and traveled from the skin to the lymph nodes over a period of years," said CNN.

However, doctors are still perplexed as to why her body reacted the way it did 15 years later -- they are struggling to figure out what triggered her response. Of course, this woman's story proves unique, but doctors encourage patients to think about getting inked: If you want to go through with it, make sure to do your research and talk with a reputable artist as to not to find yourself in a similar situation.

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