Sweet 16

Happy Birthday Tattoo

16th year of existence

Well, I'm a day late posting but it doesn't change the fact. Despite almost 3 years of being shot in the face (arm) with a laser, my tattoo still exists. Last year I said "I'm worried it's going to have a 16th birthday next year" and it has. However looking at last year's image, there's a big change. Here's a photo from today. Not a huge change from my most recent post.

20 Sept 2018

It's making progress though. There's a huge change over last year.

19 Sept 2017 / 2018

The Tattoo is now 16. I don't know what my next landmark is. I was hoping it wouldn't make it this far. I think January is my next check-in, that will be 3 years of removal. I am expecting I'll still have a tattoo then, but I'm not planning on getting another session before then. We'll see how it goes.

Session 12, Picosure 8: The Fate of The Furios [Ink]

  Eighth Picosure Session

Twelfth removal session

Right so, I have run out of movie puns. I hadn't expected this to go so high when I started. I'm now 17 days since my last session. In some overwhelmingly sad news, the tattoo turns 16 tomorrow. At this stage, it should be planning for college and trying to figure out its life, not getting shot with a laser every few months.

So, funny story. On Friday 6th July, I was cycling home from work when a car and I had a disagreement about which direction we should go. He decided to turn left, I however, was quite committed to going straight. Unfortunately [for me], his car was bigger and heavier than both me and my bike. Fret not dear readers, I was relatively unharmed. A few scratches, bruises and a fairly badly sprained wrist. I was quite lucky, I did a fairly good job of damage avoidance, though not enough. Anyway, in late August I had a physio session so asked he to look at my arm, she suggested a heat pack. That evening, I asked my wife if we had a hot / cold pack. She went and got the one we've owned for several years. "What's so funny about this?", you ask dear readers. Cast your minds back to my earlier posts and you'll remember my wine bottle cooler thing trick, well I had a cold pack all this time!%^&!%^&&*!&*^!

Anyway, I used the cool pack this time. The laser session wasn't too bad, it was painful but not the worst. She did a double pass again. 17 days isn't much time, there is some fading but it's not normally for a few weeks before you start to see it. I had said that I hope it won't make it to 16, it has.

Anyway, tomorrow is sweet 16, I hope to post a latest picture for your enjoyment. We all know this is what you're really here for, without further ado, my photo diary.

01 Sept 2018

Above was taken around 2 hours before the session. I have shaved my arm at this point. Looking at it now, it's interesting to see how faded it looks. I think right now, it looks less faded, because of healing time.

01 Sept 2018

This was almost immediately after I got home. I had taken a little time so it was maybe one hour after the session. My skin is pretty swollen here. I had just taken the dressing off so it was the first time it saw air. This was before I used my new found cold pack.

02 Sept 2018

The morning after, around 24 hours after the session. I don't think it would have been the worst, but I'm quietly confident that the cool pack helped.

03 Sept 2018

Around 48 hours later. There's still some reddening but it's not so bad. I can't remember how long it took to totally heal.

08 Sept 2018

One week later. The swelling has totally subsided but there's still a little pinking of the skin on the tattoo.

Shadowplay

The Beginning of the End

My (hopefully) last Picosure session

I have just on a whim booked my eighth Picosure session. I firmly believe that this will be my last session. I'm actually not even sure if I need it but I think it will be the one that blasts what's left of the ink. I am excited and weirdly nervous about this. The session is scheduled for 2 Sept at 9.45 (GMT+1). Removing the tattoo has been the goal for almost 3 years now. It's kind of weird knowing that soon it will actually be gone.

 The tattoo turns 16 on 19 September. I had hope this would not happen, I now think it will but I expect it'll be a shadow of itself, if even visible. Typically you don't see fading until about a month after the session. It will be interesting to see what this does / doesn't look on 19 September.

30 Aug 2018

Looking at the above image, I actually wonder if I need the session. To me it's still quite visible but I'm not sure if others will notice it. I spoke at a work conference 2 years ago, my hope was the tattoo would look like that for the conference. I'm speaking at the same conference in November, maybe this year it will actually be gone.

I'm going to take a photo of my shaven arm, as is tradition, on Saturday morning. I'll probably not post on the day but will keep track of healing and recovery. My plan is to get a photo updated on 19 September to see what 16 looks like.

Babe I'm on Fire

 3 Years of Tattoo Removal Later

So it's almost 2 months since my last session. They said that the last one might be my final but I really don't think it will be. There is good progress, there is a lot of fading. Sadly, I still have a tattoo. I had hoped it wouldn't live to see it's 16th birthday but it will. Many times now I have thought that it will be less than one year before it's gone and each time I have been wrong.

I have no idea the impact here, it's possible that if I just wait it will eventually disappear. However I know that another session will speed this up greatly. I'm going to take my time, I think he said decide in August or September if I want another one, that's still more than a month away. It's possible that by the time my awesome tan fades I won't need another session.

5 July 2018

Looking at the photo you really can see how much it has faded. That's my arm with a tan by the way, in case how tanned I am isn't apparent. Factor 50 and avoiding the sun has once again given me a splendid tan. Among the best I have ever had.

The tattoo turns 16 on 19 September. I am still hopeful it won't, but not confident. My next decision will be when is my next session. If this summer weather continues, I'll likely wait until October for the next session. That's still 3 months so there may be some significant progress by then.

Session 11, Picosure 7: The Force Awakens

Seventh Picosure Session

Just back from my seventh Picosure session.  I had asked for the woman who did the last session and was told it would be with her. However when I got there, I was treated by the man who had done all the others. Nothing against him, he's a really nice guy. I just felt my last session was the single biggest impact session on the whole removal journey, I genuinely felt one more with her may have cleared it. When I went in, he thought it was fading really well. He thinks at this stage that maybe this session will be my last and wondered if I even needed it, he said maybe one more at the end of the summer and then it will just be a matter of patience.

As I feel he goes lighter than he needs to, definitely for me, I suggest he go in as heavy as possible for maximum impact. He said he was going to do a double pass. I was ok with this as the last double pass was the second highest impact session. I should always question though, while she caused me a lot of pain last time, the fading is cumulative, maybe that was unnecessary, I will never know. Anyway, it's currently pretty sore. I did my wine bottle cooler thing with this one. I had expected another really harsh session so left a tea towel in the freezer overnight.  It's just over 90 minutes since the session completed, the below photo was taken after about 60 minutes of cooling. I'm going to wait until this heals before publishing (Apr 21, 15:44 UTC+1).

21 Apr 2018

It's now 14 May 2018, apologies to all who follow my blog (all 0 of you) for not updating sooner. I was away for work and too busy. Things are looking good on the tattoo front, it is definitely showing signs of fading. I really think one more, if that, is all I'll need. Going to ride this one out until September and see how I feel. If it's still pretty visible then, I'll go for what I expect to be my last session.

28 Apr 2018

The above was take one week later. It's still a little swollen and my skin is a bit red. It's not easy to see in the photo but I'm going by memory. If you look at some of the (much) lighter ink you can see it's more raised than it should be. I think the total healing time was close to two weeks. I was in California for work, while it wasn't hot, it was sunny, sunny enough for my Irish skin to burn. I was applying lots of sun cream, despite being cold.

14 May 2018

I took the above today, it's getting really faint now. In some light, you can't even see some it it, though it looks visible in the photo. Like I said above, I'll wait until September before deciding if I need another session. At that stage, I'll be approaching 3 years of laser removal, far more than I anticipated I'd need. He only charged me €50 for the session on 21 Apr, it was normally €75. That's a total of €500 I've spent on Picosure, I think there was a €30 consultation fee and I spent €240 on q-switched. So far that's a total of €770 on removal. Still cheaper than the first place I went to. So that's an €80 tattoo that has cost me nearly 10 times that to remove. There's the professional awkwardness and the hassle of removal. If you want a tattoo, get one, but think about it for at least 24 hours. If you regret it, it will take a long time and a lot of money to remove.

Waiting For The Miracle

Not much to update. My arm has totally healed, it took time, at least 3 weeks. The fading progress has been good. This was, I think, the session which had the single biggest impact on the tattoo. I'm disappointed that I told my niece last year that I expected about another year before it is gone. Not disappointed because I lied (well, technically was incorrect), disappointed that it's taking so long. It is progressing though.

I thought today was a good time to post. It's roughly half way between sessions. It will continue to fade between now and next month. I'd like to believe that if I get 2 or 3 more sessions like the last one, it really will be gone by the end of it. It's beginning to seem impossible to me that it will ever be gone. Despite the increasing body of evidence to the contrary.

25 March 2018

This was taken just now, not quite my usual spot but same side of my house / similar lighting. Some parts have gotten so much lighter, even since before my last session. Still some dark areas but again, they're considerably lighter than they were. I have given up believing that I'll see a big break in the darker areas. They will always be the darker areas. I'm now just hopeful that in 3 - 6 months, they'll be the only visible areas. My worry is that we're now coming into what we in Ireland call summer. There is always a chance of sunny days / things that could lead to scaring or add delays to session time. The waiting time between the sessions is good, it adds to fading, but my increasing lack of patience means I just want more lasers. As the saying goes mo' laser, less tat'.

My newest dilemma, probably the biggest in my life (I wish that were close to true) is my blog layout. I initially thought I'd need a total of 6 sessions and could chart my progress in the pretty blue bar along the top. However That bar is getting tight. I may have to start consolidating my existing sessions, like so many noughties ads recommended we do with existing debt. I hope I don't cause a financial crash.*

*I'm not an economist

Session 10, Picosure 6: The Sixth Sense

As I climb higher with sessions, it makes movie puns even more difficult / tedious. More annoying is how I got the last one wrong. I can't believe I betrayed Police Academy like that. I had actually planned to have this posted a lot sooner after the session. This one was a slow recovery.

My session was on Feb 10th. I met a new technician in the same clinic. I had not seen her before. They seem to have taken over more of the rooms they're in and now have two separate removal studios. I haven't posted until today as I wanted to show the healing. She went at it pretty hard. It didn't hurt much, I think the last one was more painful but this one seemed more detailed. I always thought the other technician was a bit fast / light. Her style reminded me more of the q-switched sessions I'd had. Not as slow / detailed but she seemed to make absolutely sure she got every single part of it. He would more glaze over it quickly. I do think he got every part of it too, but she made sure she did.

This is the worst recovery from Picosure yet. The blisters are pretty bad and there is some bruising. I have not had bruising with Picosure before. I find some of the photos quite funny. I like how on 12 Feb it looks like it has a beard. The swelling and reddening kind of make it look like a yeti. I wish I had done my wine bottle cooler thing but didn't think I'd need to. I haven't had to on any other Picosure sessions, I think I will on the next. The blisters have been bad, I haven't burst any but I have been worried about it. The pain still isn't too bad but it just looks awful.

9 Feb 2018

This one was taken the day before the session. I guess this shows the maximum fading of all my previous session.

10 Feb 2018

This was before the session. I had shaved my arm here and thought it shows everything a bit clearer. The lighting here is better than the photo from 9 Feb. 

10 Feb 2018

This was less than an hour after the session. Look at how red my skin was. The tattoo is quite raised from my skin and it was sore. Any sensible person would have put something cold on it. I stuck with aloe as Picosure has a very fast healing time and doesn't blister.

11 Feb 2018

 The morning after the night before. Some good blistering here. The hat, the face an mainly the torso. Not only was I in quite a lot of pain, I now had to worry I'd burst the blisters too. I think at this point I regretted not putting it on ice / doing my wine bottle cooler thing.

12 Feb

Still pretty nasty here. Very red and swollen. The blisters are still bad and you can see the bruising forming around the edges.

13 Feb 2018

Yep, still blisters and swollen. A lot of redness, it still has a beard, or at least a fat lip. It lost the fight with the laser. Sadly that means I did too.

14 Feb 2018

Aw, Valentine's day and my arm looks like the Elephant man. The hat and torso still look blistered and swollen. You can see bruising around the arm.

15 Feb 2018

Beginning to show signs of recovery. I think the swelling was almost gone, though not the bruising. Still pretty scabbed and blistered. Lot's of spot bleeding still visible.

17 Feb 2018

This was one week later! We're getting back to normal now. Bruising has mostly subsided, still a lot of scabs. Hard to see but my skin underneath was still quite red. The tattoo still has a bit of a swollen lip.

18 Feb 2018

Beginning to look normal now. You can see my skin still looks wrong. I think I had started to put e45 on it at this stage. That wasn't a recommended ointment (by this clinic) but I knew it would soften the skin. It still looks wrong though, you can see the redness in the clearer parts of the tattoo.

20 Feb 2018

At this stage we're starting to look normal. I stopped taking daily photos because no one, neither you nor me, cares anymore. I was close to accepting that I'd be doing this for the rest of my life otherwise.

22 Feb 2018

Why Paul, what beautiful dried-out skin you I have. I see most of your blisters are gone but it still looks awful. Your tattoo looks bad and you should feel bad.

24 Feb 2018

Two weeks later, still not fully healed. No longer any pain, swelling, blisters or redness but you can see my skin doesn't look right. 

I'm typing this on 25 Feb, 2018 and it's still not 100%. I don't think this will scar, it's just a slow healer. I would say that by 3rd March it will be back to normal. Then the waiting game commences.

That's the longest healing time from Picosure yet. But I'm hopeful it will also make it a significant session. The fact she paid so much attention to every spot gives me a little hope. That was my final session of my paid in advance ones. She estimated I'd need 2, maybe 3 more. She thought it was fading well. I thought it would be gone by now but is not. Next session is April, if it needs 3 more It'll be October.  I said I don't want it to have a 16th birthday but it now seems plausible.

First and Last and Always

I haven't really been updating much lately. Basically I've been too busy with real life and the appeal has somewhat vanished. When I started the blog I was confident we'd see a steady progression until there was no tattoo left. I still believe that to be the case, it's just I don't have an end date in sight yet. As Ive mentioned, I always assumed it would take 6 months, 12 max, for the tattoo to be completely removed. I'm now in the 24th month and it's still highly visible. It's challenging [for me] to keep a regular blog about if when I have little else to say.

I joined a gym this month, yes the January cliche. In my defense, I had been planning to join since August but could not afford it. This whole getting old malarky has made me think I need more exercise so gym it is. So far I've been pretty good about going, but it has only been 3 weeks. Of course I'm currently sick so can't go. This has impacted my gym momentum, or gymentum as they say (they don't say that). Healthy immune system and fitness is important in tattoo removal. I'm hoping that the additional exercise will help the removal. I don't think it will help in any quantifiable manner but when the ink is all gone, I'm going to say that some is down to me joining a gym.

So, most importantly, a picture. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If you're only here to see how my tattoo looks then it's definitely worth more than a thousand of whatever nonsense I spout words.

25 Jan 2018

That's definitely fading. I weirdly feel a bit sorry for it. I don't think it's sentient, yet. But it reminds me of the cartoon acid in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Not as severe but being erased from time. I have booked my sixth Picosure session. It's on 10 Feb. I think today is 3 months since my last session so a little over 3. I do think I've noticed some fading since my anniversary post. But not enough that I want to wait another 3 months. I'm curious to see what they'll recommend. They initially thought 6 Picosure would do it. I no longer think it will. I have no idea what they'll suggest next. Still I'll continue with the process, blogging as I go...

4 Q-Switched, 5 Picosure and 2 years

 Tattoo Fading Over 2 Years

 How Time and Lasers Affect a Black Ink Tattoo

It's now 2 years since I began my tattoo removal journey, 2 years! When I began this, I presumed it would take around 6 months for the tattoo to totally vanish.

Recap

I first went to a plastic surgeon to inquire about removal in September 2015. They quoted me eight sessions (q-switched) at €120 per session which must be paid up front. I decided not to progress on that one. I knew a tattoo studio near where I used to live did removal and knew it was far cheaper. It was not until 4th January 2016 that I went to start the removal. My hope was that the tattoo would be completely gone by July 2016 for my family holiday.

While reading about tattoo removal, trying to get an approximation of how long it would take the tattoo to completely vanish, I discovered another type of laser called Picosure. Picosure claimed a better overall experience with less pain, faster recovery and most importantly; faster removal. I liked the technician in the tattoo studio so stuck with him for a while but read more on the side. After my holiday, I looked into Picosure in Dublin and found a place near where I lived that did it. As far as I'm aware, this is the only place in Ireland that has Picosure.

I began Picosure in August 2016. The healing time is definitely faster, the laser is definitely less painful and the removal is definitely faster. However It's now 4th January 2018 and I still have a tattoo. When I started Picossure the technician estimated 6 sessions for removal. I have had five and I definitely still have a tattoo.

Current

As written above, when I began the removal process I started reading about removal hoping to find how long it would take to remove a black ink tattoo. I think I expected to read 6 months to 1 year. I could not find anywhere that would give a clear and concise answer so I thought "I know, I'll start my own blog". 2 years in and I am no closer to knowing how long it will take to remove a black ink tattoo.

One of my earlier thoughts, written over and over in this blog, is that I wished I had started in September 2015 and not waited until January. Obviously I don't wish I had started in the place that wanted me to give them €960, I just wish I'd gone to the tattoo studio that day / the next day and began immediately. What I have since come to realise is that starting 3 months earlier likely would not have made much difference. Sure, I might be one session further or the tattoo might be even more faded but I don't think the difference would have been significant. definitely not enough that I should have regrets.

I haven't posted here in a while mostly because I've been busy and I don't have much to share. There is still definite progress in the fading but nothing hugely substantial. I am pleased with the progress but as you probably deduced from above, I would like if it were more gone than it is. I didn't take a photo before I started removal, this is the big regret of my removal journey. I think the first one I took was in March after 3 sessions. This was taken earlier today.

4 January 2018

I made this is the collage last year. The photos are from 22 March 2016, 26 June 2016 & January 2017.

Year 1 Collage

 I thought it would be good to do the same this year. This time the photos are 22 March 2016, 4 January 2017 and 4 January 2018.

Year 2 Collage

You can really see the difference in the colour. There are some parts that are disappearing and it is definitely getting lighter. There are also parts which you can't really see in the photo that are close to gone. Tattoo removal is slow. It is expensive. It is questionable if it's worth it. That said, I am still pleased I am getting this removed. I just wish it wasn't taking so long.

Future

I have one more Picosure session booked. Around March last year, I really thought that it would be gone by March this year, mostly because I was happy with how it was progressing. I honestly can't say how many more sessions I'll need. I don't have a date for my next one yet but I think I'm going to try to make it early February. I'd like to get these 6 Picosure completed and see what is recommended and where to go next. I will continue with the removal process, I will keep spending money on it. I will hopefully not update this blog next year saying how confident I am there there will only be one more year of laser sessions.