
Mom’s skin story started with the rosacea, as the official record goes. It developed into follicular lymphoid hyperplasia AKA lymphocytoma cutis or lymphadenosis benigna cutis, which is a type of rare pseudolymphoma. It’s not lymphoma, which is cancer that attacks the immune system, but resembles a cutaneous lymphoma in appearance.
Tattoo dyes
Insect bites
Scabies
Stings and spider bites
Vaccinations
Desensitization injections
Trauma
Acupuncture
Gold earring piercing
Infections with Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), Varicella zoster (chickenpox) and Human immunodeficiency virus (AIDS virus).
Of these, it’s likely mom had exposure to Lyme disease, insect bites, trauma, chicken pox, and vaccinations (pretty sure she got the flu vaccine each year because she was working in a school). There was also likely exposure to herbicides and pesticides during the years on the farm, which would be included in the general “foreign agents” description.