It’s Sunday, the day of rest. Not for me. Today is the first
day of my nine-day vacation and I’m spending the day packing, cleaning up after
animals and children, potentially mowing the lawn if the weather allows for it,
and writing this post. The writing probably won’t take me more than 45 minutes,
but during the process I will be bombarded by many thoughtful questions and
concerns of two young children. As usual, as soon as my laptop opens, they
immediately jump on the couch with me and make things difficult. I love it.
Eye pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury as you
all know, and the normal range is 12-22mm Hg and anything greater than 22 is
considered high. Actually, 20 is pretty high on the normal scale. At my last
eye exam, my optometrist referred to me as a “glaucoma suspect” (at which point
I said, “allegedly”) because the pressure in my left eye was at a 24 which
seemed to surprise everybody that came into the room. They tried two variations
of the test which used to be a stupid air puff to the eye, but has now evolved
to an electrical impulse to the eye, both of which are entirely frightening. My
vision has also grown substantially worse in my left eye which furthered his
concern and I have to go back in a month for further examination. I should also
mention in this post something that I did not mention in my exam that I had
trouble seeing the jiggly dots in another test from my periphery, a sure sign
that there already may be some optical nerve damage.
It’s very possible that this is nothing, and just an
elevated IOP (intraocular pressure) and maybe even temporary. But for now, I
will have to go back frequently to track the pressure and my vision. Glaucoma
is treatable and does not necessarily have to include permanent loss of vision.
I have to go change a diaper now.
About a year ago I wrote a post called Tinnitus
and Tattoos in which I described another medical issue of mine, along with
the description of the beginning of my tattoo project, which is now finished.
The process took one year and eight days to complete and included four sessions
of tattoo removal and four sessions of new ink. My Facebook friends have
already seen the final result, but here are the same pictures for the rest of
you with some captions.
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| This was an abandoned project from my first attempt at long-term sobriety back in 2003. I don't really know what I was going for but I think serenity might have been the idea. |
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| This is about five months in after four sessions of laser removal. Each session was approximately 15 minutes and was rather painful. It was necessary to dull the original artwork so it wouldn't show through the cover-up. |
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| These two pictures are from ink sessions one and three. The foundation of black and brown was laid down during the first session, and the color was added in the third. For those of you without tattoos, the coloring is an extraordinarily painful process, and my two coloring sessions were each about five hours long. The result is what counts, and we have a winner here. |
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| Sessions two and four focused on the inner part of my arm. This would be considered one of the more sensitive areas of the body when it comes to tattoo work. Again, the result is worth the pain, but it's not fun while it's happening. |
The original artwork is all Hieronymous Bosch (pronounced Boss) who is a 15th century surrealist. His works can be translated with a biblical tone, but he focuses on human sin and punishment in the two paintings from which this arm collage were taken.
I am happy with the entire course my arm has taken over the past year. It all started when I walked into a shop looking for advice and happened to talk to the shop owner. We spoke for a while and he showed interest and we discussed a plan. That day I had my first laser appointment at Beloved Laser Removal and scheduled my four ink appointments with Brandon at Beloved Studios. I walked out knowing that when it was all done, I would feel more confident, and I would love showing off my arm when people asked about my tattoos.
I was right.
