About a dozen years ago, I contracted the "sporotrichoid” form of fish tank granuloma. I had been working on some copper plumbing in my fish room and managed to scratch my hand on it. The scratch turned into a very sore and ugly looking wound. Eventually, additional lumps [granulomas] popped up on the back of my hand, running all the way up my arm and into my armpit [lymph nodes]. I don't recall it being very painful, but I did get sick a lot during this time.

It was well over one year before the correct diagnosis was made. I was treated for what the MD thought was blood poisoning and eventually I was sent to a Dermatologist, who tried treating the lesions with expensive steroid medications. After several different creams and no noticeable improvement, he decided that he needed to do a biopsy. While he was doing the biopsy, in casual conversation, the fact that I kept fish was mentioned. Suddenly a light bulb seem to come on in his eyes! The doctor told me that he was glad that I mentioned that I was an aquarist as he remembered reading somewhere about fish tank granuloma (sometimes called swimming pool granuloma). He now had something that he was going to test for that he wouldn't have tested for, if I hadn’t mentioned it. He had only seen this once before, and hadn’t even thought of looking for it.

Sure enough, he found fish tank granuloma. A long stint of sulpha drugs got rid of this after almost a year of symptoms.