Day 2 and 3...Keepin it Covered

For the second and third day, I didn't do much with my arm but take pics and keep it covered. It still felt a little alien from the creme, bandage, and the soreness which was spreading down my arm. It looked as if a tennis ball was placed under my tattoo.

The Next Morning...

This was the first morning after getting my first treatment!

The first shower…later that night:

For anyone that has ever been burned, scraped, or slid through rocks, the first shower is always scary, and I was not looking forward to the water running over a fresh wound. The shower went fine. It was not painful like getting dragged through the rocks which meant my skin was still intact. I did keep it out of the stream as that would of been to much pressure on the skin. When washing it, I gently rubbed some soap on it. The soap I use is pretty clean meaning no chemicals or nasty stuff. I used the Method Brand bars of bath soap (I love those!) and then I just splashed some water on it to get the soap off. There was still a little ointement residue, but I do not recommend trying to get it all off. It's protecting the skin more than anything and preventing scarring is the ultimate goal, so we do not want to disturb the injured skin. After my shower, I was interested to see what I would find with most of the polysporin and blood removed. There was a lot of bruising. The entire perimeter was bruised, and there was a giant fluid sac of a bruise spanning an inch below the tattoo. This was the pain and soreness I was feeling. No burning, just pain to the touch. When looking at my tattoo from the side, it was clearly raised and swollen about 1/4 inch off of my arm. It really looked beat up! But felt great compared to what I was expecting.

Removing the Bandage...Day One

After 7 hours of wearing the bandage they put on me at the Doctor's Office, this is what I found. Not too bad, only a little blood from the needle pricks. It smelled pretty foul though. I would not recommend going to work or school afterward. You smell and you're really tired.

Hour One Post Procedure:

I was told the pain would not come until the anesthesia wore off, so as I got in the car, I started getting nervous again. As time went on, maybe an hour later, the pain came. It was a burning like a sunburn when you are still in the sun. You feel this need to cover your arm as if it will help. Then I started feeling like someone had punched me in the arm over and over again. I knew there may be some muscle weakness, so I chalked it up to that.

After the first four hours, I couldn’t feel anything other than sore.

The first procedure: August 27, 2009:

Well, I must admit when going to see doctors and the like I am not one to ask too many questions, so it was no surprise when consulting with the dermatologist's office about getting my tattoo removed, I did not ask any questions. Basically, when can I do it? An important question would have been, does it hurt? Luckily, PA Allison remembered after our consultation to tell me that I would get anesthesia. However I took this to mean I would get a topical kind of some sort but still feel it. So the day of the procedure, I was nervous. As I laid down in the chair, I started to get super nervous. My heart raced. My hands started shaking, and I started holding my breath which is exactly what I did in anticipation of the pain when I got my first tattoo. I almost passed out eleven years ago, so it was easy for me think of the ways in which I was going to fade out this time.

The anesthesia came and to my surprise it was injections or local anesthesia. The anesthesia had epinephrine in it, so if you are sensitive to caffeine, you may want to prepare for a good buzz. (My tattoo eraser told me later to have a good meal before hand which would be good advice if you get nauseous from nerves). I got a lot of the injections, and before the treatment even started, the PA checked my "awareness" with a poker of some sort to see if I could feel anything. So needless to say, I couldn’t feel much during the treatment. I maybe felt 10-12 of the “pops” on the edges of my tattoo. Considering I was so very well anesthetized, I doubt I really “felt” those in full intensity anyway. I got two lasers one was the laser for black and the other was the laser for the red and green. The only difference was the “green” laser came off a little hotter. I guess I felt this from the neighboring nerves but I had not sensed any heat from the “black” laser. The procedure itself took maybe 20 minutes, and the majority of the time was really spent numbing my skin.

Stats

Current Tattoo: Rose with a red flower and two green and yellow petals on both sides
Colors Included: Red, green, yellow, white, and black
Size: 4" X 1 ½"

Originally Tattooed: February 1999
Cover-Up: End of 2000

Cost Per Treatment: $350

Lasers:
Trivantage Laser (candela)
Qswitched
532- red/yellow/orange
755- green/teal
1064- black/purple

Time in between treatments: 8 Weeks
The PA said my immune system will remove the particles for up to 8 weeks after each treatment, so getting them done any sooner is a waste of money and increasing the scarring or pigmentation problems.

I started this chronicle in a notepad, so you may notice the dates don't match up or I may fix that later. Let me know if you have any questions about my tattoo removal or anything I may have left out about the process!