The Tattoo & The Photo

My tattoo has healed nicely; the itching stopped, and it's not the least bit sore anymore. In fact, I don't even notice it now. Here, you can see how well it's healed for yourself:


That's the tattoo on the left, & the original photo on the right. Just in case you were confused. I can understand why you would be, & all, because the tattoo is so damned realistic...

And now that I've gotten my second tattoo, 11 years after my first one, I'm seriously anxious to get my third. It's like a need now - and although my appointment is in November, Jerry said he might be able to get me in before that if he gets another cancellation. No offense to the people who might chicken out & cancel their tattoo appointments, but I'm really hoping someone gets cold feet soon.

After 36+ years with nothing on my back, now having the one portrait there makes me feel like it's unfinished until I get the next one... Weird, I know. But there you are.

November Came Early This Year

Remember in the last post when I said I had a tattoo consult coming up? It went fine, but the earliest appointments that were available weren't until November. I made my appointments, and promptly stopped thinking about tattoos.

Well, not three days after I'd had my consultation with Jerry, my tattoo artist at the very fine Atlas Tattoo, he called me to say, "Hey, I have a cancellation tomorrow - you want it?" My answer:

HELL YEAH!

So, last Saturday I spent just over three hours lying on my stomach with my neck twisted painfully to the left as a bearded man drove three different sets of needles into my left shoulder blade at high speed and repeatedly. In other words, I got my second tattoo.

It's still healing - we're past the "wash three times daily & apply ointment" phase and have now moved into the "apply lotion 3-5 times daily" phase. I think that phase lasts a week. The tattoo has started to peel a bit as of today, but that's normal. And the most important thing is this - it looks fucking amazing.

I'd seen portraits done on those TLC tattoo shows, and always been amazed by the skill that it must take to render a perfect copy of a portrait in ink on skin. And after looking at Jerry's portfolio, I knew he'd be able to do it. But there's nothing that can prepare you for the moment when you look in the mirror and see a perfect copy of a photograph you've know and loved your whole life on your skin. It's trippy, people. Seriously trippy.

Jerry said that it's likely he'll have another cancellation before my next scheduled November appointment, so I may be able to get that one a little earlier as well. We'll see. Until then, I'm dealing with a near-constant kink in my neck because I keep straining to see the tattoo in the mirror.

The picture above is from Sunday morning, when the tattoo was first unbandaged and still quite red & a little puffy. I'll have Chris take another picture when it's healed more so you can see the detail better. Until then, you have my permission to be amazed anyway.

The End of July

Chris' last day at work is tomorrow. He's looking forward to taking the month of August "off" to decompress, but he doesn't sit still well. He'll be pottering around the house checking things off his to-do list all month, I'm sure, in between long bike rides. He deserves to take a little time and relax, so I hope he gets to do that. And then, well, we'll see what happens next.

This has been such a year of transition and turmoil for us, I think we're both exhausted but at the same time not taken by surprise anymore. I think we've learned to take each new roadblock or speedbump in stride, which, even though it's been tiring and annoying at times, is a good thing to be able to do.

At any rate... A couple updates on other things:

• My dad went home from the hospital quickly, because the doctors think the hole in his esophagus will heal itself. He'll go back in this week for another check up so they can see what's going on in there, and then hopefully they'll have some solutions for him. He's in good spirits, but it's a frustrating situation.
  
• We met with Bub's oncology vet today, and she's very optimistic that he's doing really well. His loss of appetite after his last chemo was explained, too, because she'd increased his chemo dose last time. So, that was good to hear - it wasn't an anomaly, it was reasonable. And I'll continue to obsess over how much he eats, so hopefully the weight he lost last week will be back by his next appointment. He begins going in every other week now, so he should be able to recoup better.

Does humidity cause head colds?

I'm sure it doesn't, but man - after several days of extremely high humidity levels around here (something we're just not accustomed to in these parts), I came down with a head cold yesterday. It's just annoying right now - keeping me from sleeping, making me sneeze incessantly, causing my nose to run ad infinitum - but I'm OD'ing on vitamin C and Zicam in an effort to keep it from getting any worse.

In other news:

• My dad was in the hospital again over the weekend, although my understanding is that he'll be coming home today. His esophagus had been growing scar tissue ever since they got rid of the cancer that had been there, and the scar tissue was closing up his throat so he couldn't swallow. The doctors were scraping away the scar tissue and ended up poking a hole in his esophagus (they apparently warned him that was a possibility). He'll go back in a week to see if the hole is healing itself, and in the meantime he can't swallow anything - including water. He's had a feeding tube back in for a few weeks now, it'd gotten so bad. I kind of wish they'd just go in and remove the offending piece of the esophagus so he can get back to a somewhat normal life - although the recovery time from that kind of surgery is weeks, it still seems like it'd be better in the long run. But I'm not the one who'd have to be in the hospital.
  
• Bub's appetite isn't back after his last chemo appointment (last Weds.), and he's due for his next round this Thursday. I'm not comfortable taking him in right now, since I don't feel like he's rebounded from the last one. I left a message for the doctor today, so we'll see what she says. The last time he went in for this same drug, they sent him home because they said his bloodwork showed he wasn't up for it. I'm wondering if it's the same situation this time. He's shedding like crazy, so the chemo is affecting his fur - it's not falling out in big clumps, but it's definitely falling out. The saddest part is he's losing his whiskers - he's only got two on the right side of his face, I noticed yesterday.