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Posted 6/17/2013 2:09 PM (GMT -5)
Today, I got my first ever tattoo!  That's right - the big bad biker guy got inked for the first time, surely a right of passage for any biker.

I went to the hospital today to have my planning CT performed followed by an MRI.  The tattoos took the form of three little dots, one on each hip and one above my pubic area.  I asked the nurse doing the tattoos if she could at least make them in the shape of the Harley-Davidson Bar & Shield logo but she apparently ignored me.

So now i guess the next step is for my radiation oncologist, along with other doctors, to plan out my SRT treatment, which is scheduled to begin mid July.

My last hope in avoiding SRT, at least in the near term, is if my next PSA test (scheduled for next week) miraculously shows a decline.  My last two quarterly tests showed a PSA of .07. 

However, I've already resigned myself to accepting that SRT is just another necessary evil on my road to remission.  So let's zap those little buggers to eternity!

Posted 6/17/2013 2:12 PM (GMT -5)
oh, and I got all excited about a real tattoo :)
Posted 6/17/2013 2:27 PM (GMT -5)
John,

Are you sure it was just three? I got four. The fourth is directly below the one on my belly and it tends to get lost in my pubic hair.

Those are real tattoos, by the way. They will be there for a long time. You can get them touched up later with the HD logo. I plan to do mine sometime. I was thinking small radiation fairies with magic wands that point to them.
Posted 6/17/2013 2:29 PM (GMT -5)
Peter, fairies not the best idea.

I guess HDs tattoos are definitely ones with a profound meaning unlike 95% of the other ones.
Posted 6/17/2013 2:39 PM (GMT -5)
David,

But I like fairies. Some of my best...

OK, how about an elf princess with a magic sword that is plus three against metastases?

I can be flexible.

But that's for another thread...
Posted 6/17/2013 2:49 PM (GMT -5)
i'm covered in them.

After my operation I scoured the internet looking for an awesome picture that had the sword of damocles but couldn't find one...

So then I got an idea to customize one by getting a big ass Japanese dragon with the sword in his mouth.Had the design and all but my wife begged me to stop. She has a phobia of all things reptile. So I put it on hold and my search for the ultimate sword of damocles tattoo continues.

ps - I love feminine tattoos. My proudest one is a nice lotus flower.
Posted 6/17/2013 3:05 PM (GMT -5)
I too have tats, three of em....want to see??? My "artist" wasn't creative and refused to do anything but black. I figure with what I paid I could have had half my body covered in art at a comercial artist's shop!
Posted 6/17/2013 3:05 PM (GMT -5)
I have just one tattoo but I gave it to myself without any help, a single dot on the pad of my middle finger. It wasn't planned, I was a draftsman in my early 20's and accidentally stabbed my finger with a drafting pen. blush
Posted 6/17/2013 6:35 PM (GMT -5)
Three Amigos ........

Yep ... I remember those days! Those tiny little tatoos in a triangular pattern. BUT ... those were in my high testosterone days - about 9-years ago. In dem days ... well ... I paid more attention to the two pretty little ladies that were doin the tatoo-in! At least ... memory is a good thing!!!

smilewinkgrin   shocked nono

Posted 6/17/2013 6:50 PM (GMT -5)
I didn't get "real" tattoos :(

I have 1 dot on each hip, one just at the top of the pubic area, and a short line below my belly button. They're just Sharpie marks that they covered with little round pieces of some soft, thin, clear, adhesive plastic. Not an actual tattoo. They said I can shower with them and so on, just pat dry and they should stay fine.
Posted 6/17/2013 9:17 PM (GMT -5)
My SRT tatts are,on each hip, a line with a circle and a line with a circle just about 4 inches below my belly button. I too was thinking of having the Harley" bar and shield" put it after treatments as a token of my PCa journey. Only 20 more to go!
Posted 6/17/2013 10:38 PM (GMT -5)
Mine are over three yrs old& still holding strong. I get a kick outta telling my daughters that "I" also have one. Their response is something like.."Oh,That doesnt count"... BS I tell them cool
Posted 6/17/2013 11:32 PM (GMT -5)
I swear I'm one of the few vets who after a term of service emerged not tattooed. I always looked upon them like an identifying scar. Some thing, some file, somewhere was out there to identify you to the authorities whenever the $hh.yt came down. Still don't have any but my kids sure do.
Posted 6/18/2013 6:41 AM (GMT -5)

Redwing said...
I didn't get "real" tattoos :(

I have 1 dot on each hip, one just at the top of the pubic area, and a short line below my belly button. They're just Sharpie marks that they covered with little round pieces of some soft, thin, clear, adhesive plastic. Not an actual tattoo.

I had those for a week or so while my radiation oncologist worked with the scans to create my treatment plan. They were "X"es drawn in ink and covered by a clear plastic dot. Once the doc was happy with the plan they pulled off the plastic and scratched the center of each X with an inked burr that left a permanent mark that looks like a black freckle.
Posted 6/18/2013 6:56 AM (GMT -5)
Ah, so maybe that's the plan. My first treatment is a week from tomorrow, so maybe they'll make permanent marks then.
Posted 6/18/2013 10:38 AM (GMT -5)
Mine are permanent marker right now with the plastic circle covering them. What ever that tape is made of is good stuff.
Posted 6/18/2013 11:37 AM (GMT -5)
DaSlink: how many SRT sessions? Is it because of the PSA rise to 0.14 last July?
Posted 6/18/2013 12:03 PM (GMT -5)
When I told a friend that I got the three tattoos and about having to drink that water everyday he replied,

"Typical, a man gets to middle age then goes out gets himself tattooed and then starts drinking heavily."

Hang in there, you'll get through it.

Andrew
Posted 6/19/2013 4:58 PM (GMT -5)
No tattoos for me, but am thinking of getting a post-cancer one, maybe next year. But, current idea is not all that original - the Superman logo, on bicep maybe...my initials are S for first and last name, have always had a big crush on Christopher Reeve, and we have the same birthday...plus, the logo is supposed to mean "hope". To be determined.....
Posted 6/19/2013 7:23 PM (GMT -5)
I've always wanted to get a real tattoo but could never decide on any kind of design.


Since my PCa diagnosis, I have given this more thought and only recently came up with an idea.  I'd like to have a bracelet tattooed around my wrist.  Spelled out in some obscure language (such as Klingon or something out of Lord of the Rings), I want the words "Fùcķ Cancer".

If my upcoming SRT proves to be successful at this time next year, the bracelet tattoo will be a give to myself.  It will serve as a reminder of what I went through and an advertisement to others to inquire within.  I'll be happy to tell anyone who asks all about it.

Posted 6/24/2013 7:34 AM (GMT -5)
John, I wear a braclet that says that every day. Well it really reads" F skullCK CANCER".
Yes my SRT treatments are because of a rising PSA. My PSA went from 0.05 to 0.21. I am receiving 35 blasts, 5 per week with the weekends and 4th of July off. My finish date is the date of the All-Star Game.
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