SeeSea

Google is your friend. Don't forget to add "sailor" "biker" or "convict" to the search string.

Second the roses.

OH NO - (((hugs))) so sorry to hear that. Oh boy my heart is going out to you.

Welcome!

Yeah, I do feel strange going into this one. I maintained an insane pace for a year, and I had my last session January 2nd. It's been over 2 months which is a lifetime. On the other hand, I get to look forward to this one without the dread of just barely having healed from the previous session! Cool! Lovin' the colors. And the pretty little girl :)

Well, it was certainly uneventful. My tattoo possibly felt warm, but I had more tingling from having to lay in an uncomfortable position. Probably hallucinating it had anything to do with the tattoo. I told the tech at this place about being rejected from the other place and he said "They always do that. We welcome the biker's here." Haha, funny, jerk.

I have a girl crush on @HettyKet's sleeve.

Look like black and grey is really his strong suit. Almost looks like two different artists.

Welcome! Where abouts in Australia are you? We have some folks here who can give some advice on great shops - hopefully some close to your location. The girl/wolf would make an awesome tattoo - the other one might not be as readable as a tattoo because it is so stylized - however - ... Get a great artist and take in all your references and they can tell you what would and wouldn't work the best. Good luck!

Just booked the final session on my back! March 18th to clean everything up, add more black and detail it out. Several places along my ribs and (UGH) love handles the blue color fell out. I have a problem with some lighter blues. Ironic this is an underwater tattoo, right?

@Rob I - I love that design, and the blade down the side, kinda like the ones on @mmikaoj. Love that clean look.

Thanks - I have the scan scheduled for Friday on the 1.5T machine. Yeah, magical invisible comma, right? :D I doubt the insurance companies would have a clue. I'll explore some more online, but it seems to boil down to this - tell them you have a tattoo and they will evaluate what they are willing to do. I suspect no one has done a study on this, even retrospectively. All I see are some case studies where burns have occurred. This place told me that I should expect that it will get warm, and to let them know immediately if it gets too warm. Yeessh. I'll follow-up after the MRI and let you know how it felt and if I ran screaming from the room. - - - Updated - - - Thanks. At least it's not for some immediate accident or injury or something tragic. Just frustrating.

I found spine much easier than ribs. But everyone is different.

Welcome - no idea about the symbolism, but it's pretty cool. If you like that style, take it to a tattoo artist and tell them you'd like something similar and they can make it flow a little more nicely on your body. I'm not crazy about the placement on that one.

This continues to bug me. Attached is the relevant part of the consent form. The office person drew the slash after she read the consent form items to me over the phone when I scheduled the appointment. I got this copy when I arrived at the appointment. She did not read the eyeliner tattoo item to me - if she had, it would have reminded me to mention to her that I had a regular tattoo. Also, after I was rejected for the scan, I pointed out the consent form item to the tech and he told me that there was a comma between "eyeliner" and "tattoos." Huh? I asked him to show me the comma. Then he tells me that he ALREADY asked me if I had a tattoo because that question was part of his procedure, and that I hadn't said anything. HUH??? Soooo, he was trying to CYA that he forgot to follow procedure by asking me that question. All of this came up when I was about to enter the scanner, and I remembered I had wanted to ask if they used a wet towel or ice packs for tattoos, like I had read online. That was the first mention of "tattoo" at all, and started the entire "what, you have a tattoo?" discussion. I will try to schedule the 1.5T scanner today.

First thought - birds don't fly under turtles. It may look odd to have that vertical arrangement. But, of course, I'm all about the sea life! If you are willing to have a diagonally down view, you could add coral, sponges, sea grass, etc., around him to frame it.

Thanks, @OutOfIdeas. So I learned more. The radiology place now reports that they don't recall anything about waiting 2-3 months after getting a new large tattoo. I mentioned that the technician said they were following a researcher in the area, but today they told me it must have been something the technician did on his own time. Makes no sense, because the tech discussed my situation with the doc in the other room while I was there last week, waiting to get in the machine. Today she reports the doc denies that discussion happened. So that's an odd change of events. While I was on hold today, they discussed again with the doc about how long I had to wait. His response today is different - that they will not scan me at all at that facility. They have a 3T scanner and will only scan me at another facility that has a 1.5T, which is a lower strength magnet. I asked how long it would be if I were to be able to use the 3T, and the woman helping me said, "Well never, or like a year or something." :/ So, I can get an MRI in a 1.5T scanner at any time. But never in a 3T scanner. Hunh. Anyone ever hear of this? i suppose "better safe than sorry" but it feels like they just aren't sure and are covering their butts. Also, she said I was asked about tattoos. I wasn't. They had read the consent form to me over the phone and did not mention "eyeliner tattoos" either, although I later saw that on the consent form. So today she tells me that "tattoos" are in the form. No, I told her to look at the form. Then she says that "eyeliner tattoos are worse." So then why are you denying me for a "regular" tattoo and it's not even on the form??? I told her that they should change their consent form.

Gold star for you this week.

Great job! If you are shaking, try getting some sugar in you and make sure you are warm enough. I shook like a leaf at the end of my first two sessions, but did some research here and started wearing two hoodies backwards and leggings under sweatpants. And sometimes even gloves, but I get cold easily.

@jen7 - Blaze would make an awesome tattoo.

Do whatever you do when you are trying very hard not to get sick. Like Airborne, vitamins, lots of water, eating the right stuff. I start that maybe 3-4 days before long sessions because I also have a drive before and after, and my sessions end very early in the morning. So you want to be as healthy as possible 'cause might very well feel trashed after so keep up that stuff for a couple days after your session, too. Some people get sick (aka "tattoo flu") after long sessions because you get beat up. Once I was exposed to a bug the day I had a really tough session and I was sick for a couple weeks after that.

Not an immediate concern like an injury, but yeah, it is something that needs to be done. If they don't want to do it and they tell me they follow some researcher who is into this stuff, it would probably be stupid for me to look for another radiology place to get around a possible safety issue. i can't find anything about timing. Perhaps there is a measured decay of ink that is removed/absorbed ("MACROPHAGE - ME AGAIN!") from the area for a couple months after getting a tattoo, and they consider it a safety margin.

Yikes! Glad is all worked out!

@xcom - duuuuude, why are you not eating and drinking before/during/after long sessions??????

Welcome! Love your username, but it sounds like you have quite a few years to go ... unless you are rocking in front of a beautiful stretch of beach and sand, or a gorgeous view of the mountains...