Well to start off, I am a wuss.. Here I am, big, burly, tough looking... and TERRIFIED of needles.. Over the last few years, I've gotten a couple of small tattoos and have always been a bit intrugued, yet skeptical of piercings. I had had friends, girlfriends, syblings get piercings, and man did it always skeeve me out...
At A Glance Author Aardammit Contact Aardammit@bme.anon Artist Jessie Studio 21st Century Tattoo Location Portland Oregon So the time came for me to get tattoo #2, and off of a friend's advice, I searched out Marcii at 21st Century (phenomenal artist). I made an appointment, took off of work, and was ready to go...
A couple fo days before that, I had an urge.. morbid curiosity so to speak, and decided to look up PA's. Let me tell you, I was set. I read every story on BME, read aftercare, and psyched myself up hardcore. I was ready?!?? What was I thinking? A piece of metal through my dick?
Thursday came, and I went to get etched.. thats when I met Jessie at the shop.. She was fabulous.. she made me laugh, we chatted completely unabashed, and she answered every question I had succinctely and professionally.. I was ready! I was getting a PA!
The big letdown: She didnt have the jewelry I wanted. Ok, backtrack time.. I now have 2 days more to talk myself out of this.(she had me come in on her day off to do it since I had to wait) Well that was not going to happen! We chatted a while, and she said she had a 6 gauge curved barbell, but a 6 would be a bit much for a first time, and the weight of it would hinder healing.. She advised a stretch up, and we opted for an 8 or a 10 come Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and I am a wreck! I was all bent out of shape.. Why am I doing this? What am I thinking?!?!? But you know what? I took a deep breath, thought about it over my coffee, and bucked up. I dressed in loose cutoffs and headed down to the shop. I had eaten well (you must do this, if I hadn't, they'd have had one hell of a time picking me up) and was sipping a mocha on the way.. so I was set!
Well the counterperson was quite amused at my bashfulness, and told me Jessie would be ready soon.. so I paced.. like a madman. A few minutes later, Jessie appeared, gave me a big smile, and said she was ready to pierce me.. and let me tell ya, any stress I had, went away. The people at 21st Century are so awesome..
The piercing area was nondescript, very clean, and I was asked to drop em, and get on the table.. no worries.. so here I go, she and I chatted a moment while she cleans me up, and then the recieving tube... OK, THIS THING IS IRRITATING.. not painful mind you, but just a foriegn concept for sure... Jessie let me relax a moment, to get used to that, and she then told me it was time for the needle.. I had read how it "doesnt hurt" yeah ok.. It hurt.. enough to make me nearly rip handfuls off the table.. but then.. serenity.. and the endorphin rush we all love! I swear to you, I felt wonderful! I shook a bit (who wouldnt) and then she informed me that I am a bleeder..
Wonderful! So I am gonna bleed for ages? Actually, the bleeding stopped that afternoon, and I only spotted once or twice since.. (morning wood sucked on day one) I held off on urinating for what seemed like ages, because I was terrified of the pain everyone said would happen.. I finally decided to deal with it, and let me tell ya.. It barely stung, and then was fine.. I was still bleeding a bit, so THAT was a bit odd, but not bad. I cleaned myself up and bound myself back up into my latex chicken outfit. (A rubber glove covering paper towels tied to your penis.. it's kinda comical.)
Healing is now in week 2, and doing well. Virtually no pain, a little discharge, but I clean twice a day and/or soak in sea salts, and it is happy. I now have my 10 gauge curved barbell, and I love it..
I called Jessie to give a status report, and she was quite happy that all was well, and our original thought of bleeding wasn't true. she says in a few weeks I should be ready to stretch to an 8, and I need to come in in a few days for new jewelry (more snug) and a checkup.
I went dancing for the first time since last night, and to say it was a bit, umm, stimulating, is an understatement.
Thank you 21st Century, Jessie, and thank you BME for educating me.