Back to the Grill Again

I am more than slightly mortified sitting back at my desk and realizing it’s been so long since I’ve updated my blog. But, to be honest, there really hasn’t been much to write about these Noobs, which is so fantastic.

Yesterday I went back to my old stomping grounds of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Center at the University of Washington Medical Center so that they could take a second crack at my areolar tattoos. To briefly revisit, the first time I went in for my tattoos was this past fall. The procedure was simple, quick, and straightforward, and the Noobs looked so great upon completion. They had a really nice aesthetic and I left the UWMC feeling like I went from having some nice “Noobs” to “titties”. It’s amazing what a little color can do to really sell these reconstructed boobies.

Sadly, my skin rejected the pigment and I went from being so pumped about my Noobs to taking a small step back. As I previously wrote, if something were going to fail in this process, I was more than happy with the tattooing to be the place of the failure. I’ve been ridiculously fortunate throughout my process to have no complications. So after enough time for my skin to heal, the holidays to pass, and both of our kids to get through this year’s flu – I was back with Dr. Louie and his lovely staff.

Anne, the PA-C who did my tattoos last time, was there again at the helm with me. We went through the same set up for sizing the tattoos, she mixed the colors, but before we got started on the tattoos this go-round, she injected my reconstructed nipple sites with lidocaine and epinephrine so that I would bleed less and, hopefully, my skin would be less reactive and take the pigment. During my last tattooing session, I had no pain or discomfort. This session was the same, but I suspect that the lidocaine injections masked some of the discomfort I would’ve felt without them. When I got home, my chest was tender. I still do not have a lot of sensation in my Noobs. I have full sensation over my sternum, some on the outsides of the Noobs, but little to none in the center (at the nipple sites). If I run my hands over the nipple sites, I can feel pressure but no sensation beyond that. So, it was with great surprise that I had some tenderness after the lidocaine wore off.; it means some of my nerve connections are reestablishing themselves.

I was directed stay bandaged up for 48 hours per my after-care instructions and will unwrap myself tomorrow to see how this round went. I took pictures of myself before my tattooing and again today. I needed to update my photos anyway since the last one I posted was in October. My scars have settled a bit more and lightened. Unfortunately my reconstructed nipples have flattened out a bit, but that was to be expected. Dr. Louie and his staff were very clear about the nipple protrusions flattening out. I still have a bit of a protrusion on my right side, but none at all on my left side. You’ll see the difference in my photos (below).

My abdominal scar is still just as noticeable and I’ve been asking around about having it covered up with a tattoo. I don’t hate the abdominal scar; I can definitely live with it. But the asymmetry of it bothers me every time I look at it. So I figured if there is something to be done about it, I might as well do it. But it turns out that tattoo artists aren’t really keen on putting their work over scars because scar tissue is more likely to reject the ink and react (i.e. keloid). I sent out a Tweet asking for recommendations for Seattle area tattoo artists and only received two. I have a few more chambered that I wanted to check out as well, so I’ll hopefully have a couple of consults and see if the consensus is that no one wants to tattoo over that big ass scar.

So now I will leave you with my photo updates until the big reveal. Wish us luck!