Tattoo

Hi all, I haven't been on the site for a while now. Since my last visit, I've had the J-pouch formation and am waiting nervously for the takedown operation, still waiting for a date.

I'm thinking of getting a tattoo when all this is finished. It's been one hell of an emotional roller coaster, and I want the tattoo to remind me that no matter how hard it gets, to never give up.
I'm wondering, has anybody got a tattoo, thought of getting a tattoo, or have any ideas on one and where to have it? I can barely spell artist, not to mention come up with something!

Thanks in advance

Austen, with a new child and all, believe me, you don't need to waste your money on getting a tattoo to memorialize your alternative excremental arrangement. Still, if you insist, why don't you have the map of Ireland tattooed on your back? When you shower, as the song goes, you can feel the suds flow down by Galway Bay.

I have thought about getting a couple of tattoos as well. I haven't bothered with researching parlors either because I am lazy or I cannot justify the expense.

Primeboy: Ever since reading those words, I can't stop humming that song. I believe it was the Clancy Brothers, among others, and one I used to do at parties myself but forgot about until now. Funny, we can remember things from 40 years ago, and yesterday is a mystery. Ed
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Pb: Just remembered Galloway Bay was used twice in that song, the first verse went:

Someday I'd like to go back to Ireland,
If only my dear old wife would pass away,
She nearly drives me crazy with her nagging,
She's got a mouth as big as Galloway Bay.
Ed
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My apologies to Austen for hijacking his post, Ed

My Ostomy Journey: April | Hollister

Ed,
Here are all the lyrics by Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers:

Maybe someday I'll go back again to Ireland,
If my dear old wife would only pass away!
She's nearly got my heart broke with her nagging,
She's got a mouth as big as Galway Bay.

See her drinking sixteen pints of Pabst Blue Ribbon
And then she can walk home without a sway;
If the sea was beer instead of salty water
She would live and die in Galway Bay.

See her drinking sixteen pints at Pat Joe Murphy's
The barman says, "I think it's time you go."
Well, she doesn't try to answer him in Gaelic
But in language that the clergy do not know.

On her back she has tattooed a map of Ireland
And when she takes her bath on Saturday,
She rubs the Sunlight Soap around by Claddagh
Just to watch the suds go down by Galway Bay.

Erin Go Bragh!

PB: At one time I had the written words, and after a while, I forgot some, so I used to bluff it. Not too many noticed it. Thanks for the words; I already copied and pasted it, ed.

I agree with Ed that we might be hijacking your post, Austen. In a sense, however, we are all talking about things we remember for happy or sad reasons. If you're still on a roller-coaster ride, you may want to wait until things settle down a bit before you commit yourself to any permanent artwork. For me, and I know many others here too, the best reminders about overcoming incredible obstacles are the posted experiences of fellow ostomates who show us how to bring courage, compassion, creativity, and insight to bear on our daily dealings with the nasty slings and arrows we receive from outrageous fortune. Visit this site a few times a week or more, and you definitely won't find any better reminders to live a meaningful, positive, productive life with an ostomy.      PB

I agree with Ed that we might be hijacking your post, Austen. In a sense, however, we are all talking about things we remember for happy or sad reasons. If you're still on a roller-coaster ride, you may want to wait until things settle down a bit before you commit yourself to any permanent artwork. For me, and I know many others here too, the best reminders about overcoming incredible obstacles are the posted experiences of fellow ostomates who show us how to bring courage, compassion, creativity, and insight to bear on our daily dealings with the nasty slings and arrows we receive from outrageous fortune. Visit this site a few times a week or more, and you definitely won't find any better reminders to live a meaningful, positive, productive life with an ostomy.      PB[/quote]


There is no problem with hijacking the post, lads. I actually agree with Primeboy that you are not.
It will be a year ago tomorrow when I went to the hospital to find out I had U.C., so in a way, my mind is still not settled. I'm only looking for ideas at the moment; I'd like it to be a bit light-hearted, really, maybe something with a bit of humor in it.

Austen,

I have about 9 right now... I had one done after each battle with cancer (3 times) plus one done when I finally made it a year cancer-free. Right now I'm working on one to celebrate my latest triumph (bowel ruptured as a result of radiation treatment; took 10 months to heal). I think it is a great way to celebrate winning the battle.

Choosing what to have done will just come to you. You'll see something and it will just hit you. It could be a Bible verse, a quote, or who knows what... I suggest Googling tattoos... there are so many sites out there with thousands of pictures. I have a lot of lotus flowers, the top of my feet say "what does not kill you makes you stronger," and I have my cancer ribbon with 3 lotus flowers on my outside ankle and "Survivor" on the inside ankle. I've covered scars and radiation tattoos.

Ask people you know have tattoos where they go to find a good artist.

Personally, I think it is totally worth it.

Good luck!

And ya know I had 10 tat's before even getting my bag, and after my last 2 that I had I was wondering about getting one myself, but in this case I personally feel that my stoma and my huge question mark scar on my stomach are permanent reminders enough. Maybe down the road I will get something like a pile of crap with a big red circle and a line through it or something comical...like especially before my attempted reversal, I was coming up with all kinds of stuff to make use of the crater that was going to be leftover. Now, I was thinking of something to do around the bag or stoma site, but I'm too concerned with potential infection and all that. SO for now, just keeping it on the back burner, and if something really grabs me, then I will get it, but I am in no rush but plan on something in the future.

Funny how many people still react to tattoos..... I have a small butterfly and have always tried to shield it from my ultra-religious mom; even as an adult, not wanting to be subject to the "wrath o' momma!"..... The standing joke my daughter always chided me with was "Better not die at grandma's house or she might see it!"
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But, the day of reckoning finally came..... during my emergency ileostomy hospital stay, my mom helped to change my gown and finally got a glimpse of it! I thought she would go into instant freak "let's quote the Bible" mode, but she remained calm and collected.... and finally asked me when I got it and why. I told her 9 years ago.... and to celebrate my metamorphosis from a repressed caterpillar to a freed butterfly! She actually took it well; but finished her mini-interrogation with a burning question..... You aren't going to get any more, ARE YOU???"

I am happy with my little purple and black beauty. The jury is still out on any additional body art.
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Darla

I couldn't agree more. When my dad took me to get my first one when I was 18, of course I had to pay for it. My mom was throwing a fit; she wanted me to get a small one. I came home with half my left arm covered. And she too pulled out...THY BODY IS THY TEMPLE. I replied, "Well, call me an exterior decorator then!" She laughed but was upset as well. And each additional one I got, she would just shake her head and laugh, and shake her finger at me. I still have a work in progress to get her portrait done on my ribs, but with the recent surgeries, it kind of got put on the back burner.

"Exterior Decorator".......I like that.
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My younger brother sort of paved the way for mine.....He had both arms done with big ones.....yin/yang on one arm and another intricate scroll symbol on the other arm. They both stretch from his upper arms to about his elbows. I figure if mom could live with his visible ones, she could learn to live with my "not so visible" butterfly!
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And yep, I have heard the "TEMPLE" verse more times than I care to recount!
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Darla