SURGERY DATE CHANGE:

Surgery has been pushed back one week since I need pre-op bloodwork done and we don't want the insurance company not to cover it due to the pre-existing bullshit I've had to put up with.

Bloodwork: July 2nd.

Surgery: July 8th, 7:30am.

@ Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut.

Neurosurgeon: Dr. Patrick Mastroianni.

Orthopedic: Dr. Gary Richo.

The surgery is estimated @ 5.5 hours. They are removing 2 discs; C4-5 and C5-6. Then replacing the discs with cadaver bone, which I learned has zero DNA, and screwing a plate into my vertebrate to keep everything in place while it fuses. My hospital stay should be overnight. Neck brace maybe a week. Physical therapy after 2 months. I can go back to work in a month and a half to two months. I tried to weasel my way into getting back to work sooner, but its not going to happen.

The bones should have good fusion after 6 months, but I have to continue to be careful throughout that time. I will probably lose about 10% of movement due to the fusion, but its not enough to really worry me. There's also definite spinal cord damage visible on my last MRI from February and we are basically hoping it will regenerate on its own. If you have the urge to send me things, you can do so on the Griffin Hospital website. As a reminder, no balloons of the latex variety.

During recovery, I'll be spending time in various places since my only job will be to rest. That also means I'll be stir crazy by the end of the first week. If you would like to visit because you simply cannot live without me, get in touch with me privately and we'll figure something out. I'm sure with nothing to do I will end up posting 85 *im bored* entries and pictures a day.

So there, I'm getting cut open.
Now that its finally here, I'm motherfucking petrified.

oh! and there's good news for some of you! since the surgery is pushed back, i now have a few more tattoos to fit in before I'm out of commission. Email me or come in to schedule!

THANKS!!!!

June Is Almost Gone:

Here's a list of days I still have open for June:

*Updated June 13th: I have small spaces here and there possibly for little tattoos. Call to find out if we have some time available together. I know it's annoying to have to wait until September... 2.5 months is such a long time.*

Friday the 12th @ 4pm or later.
Sunday the 14th @ 4pm or later.
Wednesday the 17th @ 2pm-5pm.
Thursday the 18th @ 7pm.
Tuesday the 23rd @ 7pm.
Friday the 26th @ 6pm.
Sunday the 28th @ 6pm.

I've thrown Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday into the mix now. I hope this helps.
Call me!!

Thanks.

Cover Up Information:

Let's talk about cover ups for a bit, shall we. Or rather, I'll type and you read.

This is a cover up I did on Jackie a couple weeks ago. The old tattoo looks completely covered, right? Well, as I explained to Jackie and as we've discussed here before, covering a tattoo doesn't always mean blacking it out. You don't need a giant, black square if you understand that some of the old tattoo may "poke through". You just need to decide what is more objectionable: the bits of old tattoo or a huge blacked out piece that screams, "I'm a bloody cover up!". Nor does it always mean covering it completely during the first session.

Jackie called me to set up another appointment so we can hit this cover up again. As suspected, some of the previous tattoo is showing through the new one. (I mean, I made it white, for Pete's Sake!) I would rather try to do something lighter and then have to go over it if we need to, than assume it has to be very, very dark right off the bat. I'll try to remember to take pictures of before and after... again. Depending on how much of the old tattoo is visible, I may go a shade or two darker on the purples. We'll see. I'll be sure to post it for you all.

Remember kids: you can always make it darker later, but you can't lighten it up... unless you have it removed and that is a whole other discussion.

Schedule Change:

Well, kids, I have a scary sounding doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Something about a needle and an xray machine and cortisone and my spine. I also have a trip to see Cirque with a friend that same night. You see what I'm getting at, don't you?

I WON'T BE IN TUESDAY!

But, I will be thinking about you!

Scot's Han Solo and Mike's Cover Up:

That's All She Wrote:

for May, anyway.

That's right, no more space in May... SORRY!! June already has a few sparse appointments, so get in here and leave your deposits for an appointment NOW. While I don't have a date for surgery yet, it should be sometime in early July. The recovery time is 6-8 weeks. I doubt I'll be back tattooing in full force until September unless my sweet Wolverine healing powers kick in and I heal super fast! Let's just not count on me actually being a superhero just yet, okay? I do plan on being able to get some designs set during my healing time, so I won't be completely useless, i suppose.

Hope to see you all in here soon!
~Joy

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