Why is this choice so difficult?

[dsouter]

ps, i'm still going to go hiking in the wilderness with my rugged dog and off on foreign adventures. it's what i do! and my surgeon and cardio knows it! adventure doesn't stop bc of coumadin! and i'm still going to be the most tattooed lawyer in portland oregon! (i recently learned you can still do this with heparin shots -- thanks cardiologist!)

I was told that you might bleed a little more than normal but should be fine without any special meds needed.

 

[pikacat]

I was told that you might bleed a little more than normal but should be fine without any special meds needed.

tattooing? technically, yes, you'd be fine. the issue is, having talked to a ton of tattoo artists, is that the excess bleeding under the skin can make the tattoo work blur. one artist said that on coumadin, some people heal fine. however, she said others, through no fault of the artist, can only get line work or go in for short sessions as opposed to long sessions.

i mean, i'm talking about full back color pieces. if someone just wanted to get a little line piece, yes, they should be fine regardless. however, i have pieces that are highly intricate, 12 hour pieces that take up my whole thigh. something like that would have a really good chance of blurring. so my cardio said that i could actually take heparin, which is short acting and then you could do the complicated sessions if you were the sort who ended up bleeding under your skin like that.

 

[Ross]

tattooing? technically, yes, you'd be fine. the issue is, having talked to a ton of tattoo artists, is that the excess bleeding under the skin can make the tattoo work blur. one artist said that on coumadin, some people heal fine. however, she said others, through no fault of the artist, can only get line work or go in for short sessions as opposed to long sessions.

i mean, i'm talking about full back color pieces. if someone just wanted to get a little line piece, yes, they should be fine regardless. however, i have pieces that are highly intricate, 12 hour pieces that take up my whole thigh. something like that would have a really good chance of blurring. so my cardio said that i could actually take heparin, which is short acting and then you could do the complicated sessions if you were the sort who ended up bleeding under your skin like that.

Your 100% correct. I have no tats myself, but some people have tried and it may look fine at first, but deforms and becomes ugly a little later if your on anticoagulation.

 

[greg]

Naomi, I won't respond to anything but the coumadin. It is not a BIG deal but it is a deal. I don't like having to take it. My #'s have been very stable and I only test every 4 to 6 weeks. I still don't like it. I don't believe you/I have to worry about long term problems, but I know as we get older we face other problems that require surgery. In my case it looks like knee surgery. I have had small incisions to remove skin cancers and the like with out bridging, and with no problems at all. Any Dr's I have been associated with understand anticoag very well. I still don't like it. I wish I didn't have to take it. The problems I have had have all been managable. They are more nuisance problems than life issues. I have not changed my life style. I still don't like it..... So the other side; I ride ATV's, I hike, I hunt, I shoot, I prospect. You name it, I still do it. I will gladly take coumadin FOREVER before I willingly submit to another OHV. That ain't fun. God bless and good luck with your decisions and surgery.

 

[dsouter]

I was told that if you keep each session to 60 minutes or so, there were no issues.

Will have to investigate further.

 

[dick0236]

.... but I know as we get older we face other problems that require surgery....

Greg....maybe...or maybe not. I've made it almost 43 years, so far, with NO other surgeries and only two trips to the ER for stitches. I have wrestled with ALL of the "what ifs" over the years and so far all I've gotten was a few more grey hairs.

 

[pikacat]

This thread has made me feel dumb. I've never been concerned at all with what ifs and my doctors have never stressed them. Not to say they haven't been mentioned but it certainly didn't seem like that big of a deal to me. Maybe because for the past 11 years it's like oh what if I get BE again or what if my heart craps out -- is it this year? I dunno it seems like the same thought process. It MIGHT. But I might just go on living too. I dunno. Once I had a doctor tell me she had no idea how I lived not knowing when my next surgery would be because it was like having a time bomb in my chest. She said that because for 11 years I had a severly leaking valve and no one knew when my heart would stop compensating. I imagine it's similar really to the feeling one has with bio valves but I don't know. Anyway, I never really thought of it. Until she mentioned it, thanks. But maybe i'm being willfully ignorant with coumadin, but it just seems like it's how I'm going to have to live my life sooner rather than later so I might as well make the most of it and not think of all the things that can go wrong but just be compliant with the instructions.

Sorry. My obnoxious philosophical rambling is probably not helpful.