Sunday Sprinkles-That's Gonna Leave A Mark

So here I am after another week of MIA. I'm telling ya if something crazy is going to happen, it will happen to me. After my mom got out of the hospital I had the chance to go to my cousins for the weekend and for the 4th of July so I reluctantly went. I only hesitated because of being worried about my mom. 

So on Saturday my cousin came and picked me and the girls up. The girls wasted no time suiting up and getting in the pool, so of course us adults followed. We had a great time splashing and watching the kids play. We got out long enough to eat dinner and get right back in. Someplace nearby were having a nice firework display that we got to enjoy watching from the pool.

Sunday we all slept in a bit which was so nice to be able to do that. The sun was shining and it was hot out, but we decided to wait a bit to go out to the pool. Then here came the storms, it stormed pretty much all the rest of the day and night. So no pool action for us or the kids that day. We had fun though, talking and laughing, and made a grocery store run for the next day. 

Ok now to where the mark comes into play. My cousin drew up a design for a new tattoo for me. A pinup style but a more fluffy version. She is awesome and I love her. He went to work and I went into my zone. It is kind of funny that I am seriously scared out of my mind of needles but enjoy getting tattoos. We started around 9:30pm and finished up around 1:30am, only stopping for one pee break and to add some spur of the moment details. Which I have to say I love the extra details, I think it made it that much better. We were almost done when the leg cramp hit, it was horrible but I worked it out and went right back to it. So now you can see the finished product below.

Now I wont tell you it didn't hurt because you see that tail area where it's curved at her butt. That area hurt like heck. All in all it wasn't bad. I even got in the pool the next day, we wrapped my leg with saran wrap lol, and it held up nicely until the kids used my legs for a diving board. We had a great time with family and friends, ate a lot of food then went to watch fireworks. 

So I come home after all the festivities and my leg was pretty sore and tender, a little red around the tattoo, which is normal so I didn't think anything of it. That is until I woke up the next day to severe pain, swelling and the redness had spread a lot during the night. I couldn't even stand for anything to touch it. I didn't get good pics of how bad it was, I wish I would have though. The pic below is the from the Tuesday morning. I really am kicking myself for not taking daily pics to show just how bad it got.

I tried my best to suck it up and just deal with it but, it hurt so bad, the redness was spreading, and it was hot to the touch. I knew something wasn't right. So I made a trip to urgent care, and boy was that an experience. The nurse refused to even touch my leg, she asked my pain scale and I said 9 at least. She says I'm gonna go get the doc now for you, this is horrible. Way to make me not freak out lady lol. The doctor comes in and says "Why tears hun, you are in much pain?" I answer her with YES I am in severe pain. She proceeds to start chuckling and shaking her head and says "Why you do this? Why you think tattoo is ok?" I reply with I like tattoos and I know it is not ok which is why I'm here. She begins laughing NOT chuckling and say "Nooooo your leg is terrible I mean why you think tattoos are ok? The things we will do to our bodies." while shaking her head. So obviously she is against tattoos, ok everyone has their beliefs whatever. So she does her examination and tells me I am indeed having an allergic reaction to the ink and have and infection, plus cellulitis. She told me I needed to be on bed rest, no work, no driving, only up to go potty. She kept commenting on how painful it must be for me, and how bad it was. As she leaves she tells me she is giving me a script for 2 strong antibiotics and to make sure I eat each time I take them. Oh and also my favorite things she says to me is "You will learn the hard way about tattoos because I'm not giving you pain meds." as she shuts the door and leaves me standing there mouth wide open. The nurse opens the door a few minutes later and tells me I am free to go.

So here I am a week after getting my new tattoo still in pain, still a lot of redness, and still severely swollen. There have been blisters come and go all over just where the red ink is, which freaked me out. It was really gross so I'll spare you those details. 

What did I learn from this experience? Red ink sucks lol. No really I learned that I have an allergy to red tattoo ink, something I hadn't even thought about having an allergy to. I mean seriously how many of us inked people stop and say hey I may be allergic to the ink? I know I sure didn't since I have another tattoo that has a small amount of red ink in it. Honestly it didn't cross my mind when I got that tattoo either. I really suggest that you have your tattoo artist do a test spot if you want red though, I would hate to think of someone dealing with what I am. I also had a reinforcement of even if you don't agree with how someone else believes, it doesn't make it wrong. (I sure as heck don't think that doctor disagreeing with MY decision to get a tattoo warranted her allowing me to deal with the severe pain I am dealing with.) It just means maybe you could learn something that you don't already know. Life is about living to the fullest, loving without limits and learning something new.

p.s. I also learned that good friends will listen to you whine like a big baby and tell you that you're not whining. I love you guys :o)



Peace, Love, and Cupcakes