Woman says tattoo detected possible skin cancer

Outside the Kirkland pet shop where Dorina Groves works, the writing on the board warns customers about cancer in their pets. Inside, Groves says it was the writing on her arm that warned her about cancer in her own body and may have saved her life.

"Any time something has been so impactful to me, it's inspired me to keep going, I found space on my body to tattoo it and let other people see it,” she says, showing off a barrage of quotes on both of her arms.

But Groves' latest inspirational tattoo, H.O.P.E., which is an acronym for Hold On Pain Ends, wasn't complete.

The P in Pain, tattooed over a little sore Grove had had for years, didn't take.
 
"I Googled 'Why doesn't ink take in an unhealed sore?' and it came back melanoma, metastatic melanoma," Groves said.
 
A dermatologist biopsied the lump Monday and told her the tattoo may very well have detected what's likely cancer.
 
"That's lucky, that's awesome, it's good for her," says Mason Montgomery, a tattoo artist at the Kirkland shop that did Groves' tattoo. 

He said he's never seen skin that didn't take ink.
 
A dermatologist said if the body's immune system is fighting disease, it attacks any foreign substance including ink.

Groves was less interested in the science though than the symbolism. The pain on her arm and on her tattoo are gone.
 
"Now the word is gone, but hopefully, so is the skin cancer the dermatologist thinks is there," she said, showing the stitches on her arm.