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Sunday, April 19, 2009 smokinbunny asks

Q: After asking a question I was told maybe skin mets could be the problem

My sister has had 2 surgeries for breast cancer removing 26 lymph nodes all together. The left was a lumpectomy the right was removed entirely. Posted this before because she has a severe case of eczema which no treatment seems to solve. Dermatologist did a skin graph and diagnosed eczema.  In the response was mentioned skin mets and I looked at pictures and it may be similar to hers. She has mentioned having two lumps form on the back of her neck in addition to the eczema. When I looked at the pictures of skin mets many people had lumps. If you have skin mets is this skin cancer? She has a rash all over her body with oozing on her back and lumps forming on her neck. She is buried financially by the two surgeries and is trying anything to figure out what is wrong with her without having to pay a fortune. Considering her history and her symptoms what should she do and who should she see?

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Phyllis Johnson, Health Guide
4/20/09 6:27am

I mentioned skin mets because it seemed irresponsible not to consider them as a possibility given your sister's history, and I wasn't sure from the question exactly where the rash was.  I have never heard of skin mets being all over the entire body, and if a dermatologist has looked at it, I doubt that he or she would have overlooked that possibility.  Skin mets are not skin cancer, but are breast cancer that has spread to the skin.  There may be other kinds of cancer that can also metastasize to the skin, but I just know about breast cancer.  I do know that it is difficult to impossible to diagnose any kind of rash for sure by looking at pictures.  I thought I had skin mets once after looking at some pictures, and it turned out that I had shingles. I can understand your sister's wish to avoid needless doctor's visits; however, this sounds like a problem that will need personal attention from a doctor.  Has a sample of the skin ever been looked at  under the microscope to get a more accurate picture of exactly what is causing the eczema?

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By smokinbunny— Last Modified: 12/27/10, First Published: 04/19/09