Painful but Worth It -Fort Collins, CO

I have many tattoos from when I was young. Half of them were done by an ex-boyfriend with a homemade gun. He had spent years in prison "perfecting his art" and I decided to let him practice on me. Now it has been 18 years and I want them gone. Every time I look in the mirror I am reminded of him. I like the tattoos that I have paid for and put sober thought into. I just want the past removed because I have grown up.
I finally got the courage to go in and talk to a specialist about these horrible blobs of ink covering my body. I was quoted 100.00 per session and up to 12 sessions to remove the one from my stomach and hip. I decided to give it a shot. Anything is better than living with these for the rest of my life. I can tell you that I was not prepared for the pain inflicted on my from that laser. I thought it would be something like getting the tattoo. The one on my stomach was the most painful one I got and 5 times more painful to remove. I did this without any pain medication or local anesthesia. My technician was so patient and assured me I could take as many breaks as I needed. I wasn't being charged for the time it took, only for the treatment of the entire tattoo. He used a cold air blowing machine to help cool the area but it didn't help much. I bit the bullet and figured it's what I get for being so stupid in the first place.
He told me there will probably be bruising and blistering after he was done. Immediately after I was red and swollen and it felt like hot grease was being dripped on my body. It was very sore the first day but ice really helped. This is day two and the swelling is almost gone, no blistering, and barely red. The best part is that almost all of it is faded and I am told that it will only get better. I really think these will be gone in a couple of more sessions. I am so excited to see my skin again!

I figured it out! I just put 2 pics up that were taken 72 hours after the 1st treatment. The one around my belly button used to be all the same shade of black. I can't believe how quickly it is fading. The roadrunner/peace frog cover up combo was done professionally and it is fading nicely too. Can't wait until the next few weeks to see if it fades even more.

Itching! Holy cow! This just started last night and was easy to get rid of by lightly rubbing on the outside of my shirt. Now I can't stand it. I want to lay on my belly and scrub it with the carpet! I wonder if ice will help. I am going to try some of this steroid anti-itch cream. I'm afraid to scratch it from all the reviews I have read and people said. So far, no blisters or peeling. Does the itching mean that will happen soon? Ugh.