Apparently I got these done February 6, 2002 (Today is May 4, 2002). I wrote about the experience on my I AM page, and it kind of jogged my memory. Good planning, me.
At A Glance Author Melissa Contact Melissa@bme.anon IAM smash_me When Three months ago Artist Jay Studio Steel Beauty Location Winnipeg, Manitoba
So after I got my venoms downsized, I decided on the vertical lobes. I noticed a pair of transverse lobes in Jay's portfolio, and asked him if he had ever done vertical. He said no and was really interested in doing them.
My piercer kicks ass, ok? I trust him 110%.
Anyway, this is what I wrote in my I AM journal:
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I had a 2:30 appointment and arrived a little early because I'm pretty anal that way. When I got there, Jay was the only person there. Terry had gone to get coffee. Later Jay said that he had blocked off two hours in his book for my appointment. Then some guy came. Ok that isn't important. Terry got back with the coffee, Jay stalled... had a smoke... stalled some more. He was trying to figure out how he was going to pierce them (the lobes). Right. He told me that Eric always uses a clamp. And I said, "wouldn't that fold my lobe?" (after Jay checked to see how they clamped, we saw that yes, the clamps do fold my lobe. Twice.)
So after marking me and stalling some more, he said he figured out how he was going to do it and it wouldn't be a big deal. Terry asked if she could watch. Did my left ear first. Going through the cartilage was UNCOMFORTABLE... It's not stub-your-toe painful, it's a weird uncomfortable feeling. I kind of hit the chair with my hand, so I suppose it was a little intense. It took longer than usual because he was guiding the needle through the length of my earlobe. Going through the lobe itself was almost soothing compared to the cartilage. Then he stopped because he wanted to get pictures of the needle in... So he took some, then realized I was swelling a bit too much to accommodate the 3/4" barbells he had for me... Luckily he just happened to have two 1" barbells. So he tossed them in the autoclave, and while we were waiting, he did the other ear. It was about the same as the other one, but I stayed still. He asked how it went, and it seemed it took like an eternity to answer ... I just couldn't speak... Then slowly, out comes: "it felt like after an orgasm." Silence. Then they laughed. And so did I. But it DID. It was like that state [I have] that's almost crying.... Then Jay showed them off to this guy named Matt. The whole time, Jay kept going, "That's SO crazy... that looks so crazy..." over and over. Every time he looked at me: "that's so crazy!" Calling me crazy, calling kids in general crazy...
Terry left at four (I was there until 4:30), and I paid (total: $110 with $10 discount), He thanked me for giving him something "interesting and challenging" to do. He told me to come in next week, and to call tomorrow to tell him if I bled/bruised (I bled a whole one drop from my right ear during the procedure. Procedure. That sounds lame). He mentioned that we may have to do a series of downsizes (These barbells look absolutely massive). Good times. Yeah. They don't hurt anymore. No touch.
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Now comes the fun part. After a day, my left lobe swelled CONSIDERABLY, while the right was pretty normal. They were both bruised, but mostly the back of my lobe so it wasn't really noticeable. Anyway, my left lobe burned/stung/throbbed constantly for a good week and a half immediately afterwards. It hurt to smile, it hurt to move my head in certain ways and the glands in my neck were swollen. I was popping Advil like candy, and at nights while I was trying to sleep, had thoughts of just taking them out. It hurt THAT bad. I went in for a check up a week later, and Jay said "yeah, looks pretty painful [my whole ear was bright red], but it's not an infection, just keep up with the cleaning," and gave me a squirt bottle to make the saline washes a bit easier. So about two days after the check up, the swelling in my left ear went down, just as my right ear started to swell. Thankfully, it wasn't as painful at the left and wasn't swollen as long, either.
After another two weeks, I called ETB and asked if I could get them downsized, because they were hitting the collar of my jacket every time I made a shoulder check, and that hurt. So he changed them to... 3/4" long barbells, I believe. They fit my lobes perfectly. While he was changing them, he commented on the mad amounts of lymph they produce. The amount of lymph I can push out of them is really interesting, even now I can "empty" them 3 or 4 times a day.
About a month later, I got some nasty scar tissue forming around the entry holes (cartilage part), but it was reabsorbed about 3 weeks later (happened with my industrial as well, so I sort of expected it).
And now, they feel fine. I know the cartilage area is still healing, but they are comfy to sleep on and I don't really have to be careful around them anymore. A lot of people think they are just conch piercings with a really long barbell in them, so I get a lot of questions.
Jay did a fantastic job of lining them up (he says that one is slightly off, but even I can't see it). To me, they were definitely worth the pain and work.