WOW, what a crazy last 2 weeks it's been! Rob and I flew to Baltimore last Tuesday to get my famous 'Vinnie's!' I was a little nervous, but more excited to just get it all done and over with. We got to Baltimore, had a great dinner and a good nights sleep. The next day, after lunch we ubered out to Vinnie's tattoo's. It was about 30 minutes from Baltimore and my biggest worry was if we were going to be able to get an uber back to the hotel since we were so far out of town. Needless to say, we made it and Vinnie's tattoo shop was in a little strip mall with a liquor store and a few other shops along with it-nothing fancy at all. But as you walk in, it's nice, clean and was not your typical looking tattoo parlor. Well, with the exception of pictures of tattoos everywhere. We were greeted by Vinnie's daughter. I had an appointment with another tattoo artist first to see about getting a breast cancer ribbon tattoo. I wasn't 100% sold on getting it, but I really did want one. As we were waiting, we saw Vinnie walk by several times (he's much taller than I expected), another lady was leaving, and while we were there, a total of 2 more ladies came in. Once I was back in Ian's little room (there's a big waiting area, several smaller side rooms, and Vinnie's 2 rooms for his part). I showed Ian what Rob and I had talked about, a cross with a pink ribbon hanging off the side. Of course my scribble on Emma's drawing app on my phone didn't compare to what Ian produced. I was sold. Done. It was a little bigger than I had planned, well, maybe a lot bigger. But he said he wouldn't go any smaller and if he did the ink would bleed and wouldn't look right. Oh well, I'm 43, I really didn't care about it being any bigger, so I went for it! I was a little nervous it would hurt, but Rob was sitting right there and held my hand. By time Ian got his room prepared, everything was extremely clean, well maintained, and I felt like I was about to have surgery the way everything was prepped. Once he got started, it hurt a tad, but not much. So, Rob's hand was no longer necessary. When Ian was finished, I loved it! See picture off to side. While he was doing the tattoo, we talked a bit about Vinnie's shop and what an amazing thing he does. Ian said every tattoo done in that shop is by appointment only except Saturday's. He said most of them all leave by 5 each day because they have families and want to get home. WOW, not your typical tattoo place right? When he was finished, we still had a few minutes to wait until my appointment with Vinnie. In the mean time, I asked Vinnie's daughter if she knew if we could catch an uber back to Baltimore. She said as a matter of fact, there's a guy that takes people back to Baltimore from there. So, I texted him and he was set to pick us up when we were done. Vinnie's wife came out and had me fill out paperwork that asked all my medical history of my cancer. She then led us to the room where Vinnie would do my tattoos. It was a nice room, family photos (beautiful family-all college age, 3 girls and 1 boy) leather couches, & shark teeth jaws everywhere! I had to sit in a nice office chair! Vinnie's wife took my before pictures and got me all settled. I wasn't nervous at all, I was very relaxed and just excited to get on with it. Vinnie came in and we just sat and talked. He's done just UNDER 9,000 nipple tattoos and does about 8 a day! (Ok, so that's amazing, BUT-that's a lot of breast cancer he's seen).  He asked me all about my breast cancer history and just got to know my story. He was extremely knowledgeable in all areas breast cancer related. He told me he makes rounds at Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer Institute with surgeons. The one thing he did say was he wished he had a plastic surgeon on his site to ask simple little questions like the one we both had about my exact nipple placement. Because I have 1 belly boob and 1 implant, they are different shapes. And I have a scar across the middle of my implant side, but not my belly boob side. So, there were 2 places the right nipple could go. Slightly above or slightly below the scar line. I ultimately chose the above location. Just a little off from the other one, but the overall placement looked better (he had little rubberized nipples he puts on you to see the size and location). So, away Vinnie went mixing his colors. He said he uses a standard color base and adjusts as needed. I thought I'd feel a little bit of the tattooing on my belly boob side because I have some nerve sensation (although you touch 1 spot and the nerve responds somewhere else!). Quite the opposite happened. The implant side was more sensitive (obviously, it's my original skin), I just felt pressure and a little prickling. Overall not bad. Vinnie took about 30-45 minutes to get both tattoos finished. Once he was done, I looked in the mirror and WOW, what a difference 2 little circle make on you. They looked AMAZING (yes, I know so strange to think nipples could look amazing, but they were so real looking, so life like)!  I had a huge smile on my face and was so excited! When Vinnie finished, his wife came back to take the after photos and explain the after care process. She gave me a bag of soap, lotion, & instructions. And by this time our Uber driver was there. We checked out, paid, put a pin on the map of the US (there was a world map too-women have come from all over.....even 1 pin from The Maldives), and took a picture with Vinnie. The uber driver explained 1 catch. The ride back to Baltimore was during their "surge" time as the uber driver from the airport explained. Meaning, our $35 ride to Vinnie's was going to cost us 2.8x that amount to get home.....YIKES, What the heck? Well, we had no choice! This price is set by uber, not the driver. Once we got in the car, we began to talk about what the driver does full time....Any recollection of a band from-way back when-Called the Grim Reaper? Well our driver plays bass for them now! Needless to say we had a good ride back to Baltimore. And, wouldn't you know it, Vinnie pulled right up next to us on the highway and waved. He must've been on a mission because we followed each other all the way back to Baltimore! We got back to the hotel and I had to "air out" my tattoos, so I was walking around topless-Rob kept saying how real they looked. I had to admit I felt like they were real. I told Rob (I know this doesn't even compare, but it's the only analogy I could think of), you know when you find out you're pregnant, but don't want to tell anyone b/c it's still early, so you walk around with this huge secret and smile from excitement-That's how I felt. I couldn't walk around telling or even showing people my new tattoos, but I certainly walked around with a huge smile on my face. What a difference tattoos make! We flew home the next day and I was so excited to see the kids. Natalie and Emma looked at my tattoos and said "oh, how fake!" Well, that's not what I wanted to hear...the next day they looked a little closer and said, you know they kinda do look real.

By Saturday, Natalie and I were on a plane headed for Orlando to play volleyball in the AAU National tournament. It was a great 4 days of play, but by Wednesday night when we arrived back in Houston, I was done with traveling!

My next medical follow-ups come on Monday (6/27) with Dr. Gordley, I'm excited to show him the new tattoos to see what he thinks. Then I have my yearly with Dr. Fitzsullivan at the end of July and Dr. Nelson in August.

Please continue to keep my dad in your prayers, he's been in and out of the hospital and had some very low days. Prayers lifted him the other day and so far he seems to be in a better place. Quick story....Rob and I went to visit him Thursday at MD Andersen in the medical center. Rob left to go get some lunch for us, I texted him telling him to find the chapel, find a priest, my dad needed a visit. Rob said as soon as he read the text and put his phone away he looked up and there was a priest standing right there. He said, WOW-I was just told to come find you! Rob explained the text and the priest said Rob's request trumped the place the priest was going to.

GOD is around us in all we do...all we have to do is ask, believe, have faith and most of all be thankful for each and every day!

Thank you for all your prayers, love and support.