Regretting a Large Tattoo

I rarely do anything impulsive, but when I do, of course it has to be something permanent. I feel like an idiot. I got a very brightly colored quarter sleeve tattoo. It's not even finished yet and I'm regretting it. I've cried almost every day since I got it. So, I have 3 consultations scheduled for laser tattoo removal. One is very close to me, the other is the hospital system I work for which would probably give me a discount, and the soonest appointment is 3 hours away, but it's the closest office with the Picosure laser. I've done a lot of research, and it seems that the Picosure is my best chance of removing my purple, green, and light blue colors. Why couldn't I have just gone with a plain black design? Oh, well. It's done now and I can't take it back, so I have to move forward!

I had my first treatment with the Picosure today. I expected it to be awful since it's a almost a half sleeve, but it was tolerable even without any numbing cream. She was pretty optimistic about the removal. My light blue and green parts have already faded significantly after one treatment. There's already some fading in the black, too. She may have to use a different laser for the red and purple, but she thinks she can get rid of those colors, too. I'm feeling really good about it! Definitely confident that I'm doing the right thing.

I'm unwrapped now, and so far I'm pleased. No bruising, swelling, or blistering at all. There is very significant lightening of my teal and green, decent lightening of the dark purple, and surprisingly, my red lightened up a little, too. Wasn't expecting the Picosure to touch the red. It hasn't done anything to the pink, but my technician said she may have to play around with a few different lasers to get the different colors out. Feeling optimistic!

Now I have tiny blisters in the green and blue. I'm slightly swollen, too, but still not very painful. I would say it's similar to a very mild sunburn.

Here's the progress so far. I'm keeping the purple flower on my shoulder, and may end up keeping the pink and purple daisies at the top, too. I hate the red one, and the bottom purple one is beautiful, but just too big and I don't think it goes with the top flowers.

I had my second treatment last week. She was impressed with how well I healed, so she really turned up the laser this time. It definitely hurt worse, even with numbing cream. I still barely blistered. Just like last time, it was slightly sore for a couple days after, and then back to normal.
I'm getting used to having all this ink, now. I've decided to keep the top three flowers, and just get rid of the red one and the giant purple one. I will still need to have it finished, which will have to wait until after the laser treatments. I'm very impatient, so it's hard to wait!

OK, I've been slacking. I had my 5th treatment on Tuesday, and boy was it rough. She introduced the Medlite on treatment number 4 for the red and dark purple. She's been hitting the purple with both lasers, and the Medlite really takes out the red. I had some decent blistering this time, so I hope it fades even more! I haven't had a lot of blistering until now, but I have seen fading every time. We're going 8 weeks between treatments now, because I see more fading in between that way. I'm excited to get my remaining 3 flowers finished, so I'm going to set up an appointment with a couple tattoo artists to get some ideas flowing. So excited to see it finished! I know I still have several treatments to go. It's hard to be patient, but it will be worth it.

It's been a while since my last treatment. I've noticed that the fading continues for over two months! I'm scheduled for my next appointment July 8th. My last one was end of March, so it really has been a while! The last treatment I had my first REAL blisters. It was pretty gross, but the results were amazing. I'm afraid to have her turn up the lasers again. Maybe I'll just keep the same settings....