Quote: “Scars are tattoos with better stories.”

[rimbo74]

Tattoos telling the story of your transplant are pretty cool as well....   

[okarol]

Tattoos telling the story of your transplant are pretty cool as well....   

Hey - you've got the scar AND the tattoo - nice! 

[Bajanne]

Only just saw this thread.  As a child, my knees were in constant danger, and so a have a few there.  Once at my sister's home we were playing with sticks (can't remember why) and mine hit her chandelier and and one of the crystals broke of and chopped my right index finger at the joint.  I was about 12 at the time.
At 10 I had an appendectomy, so that scar is there.
Then my hysterectomy, gallstones operation and hernia operation have given me a scar that looks like the old cornflakes single serving boxes which had a perforation so you could eat it out of the box, like a giant I!
Now my failed graft between my elbow and hand, and my working graft between my elbow and shoulder are my dialysis badges.

[rimbo74]

First pic - transplant scar and I think you can see the PD scar on the right

Second pic - transplant tattoo

Third pic - just getting addicted to tattoos

[paddbear0000]

Big, round pit in my right thigh form a mosquito bite that got infected when I was little (it was so deep, there was actually a hole in to my leg until it healed!).

Small line from a cyst removal on my lower back along the spine.

One on the tip of my pointer finger on my right hand where I accidentally sliced the tip off with an exacto knife when I was 18.

Numerous small scars from when I worked at the vet with birds, reptiles, wildlife, exotic animals and cats and dogs. They are barley noticeable tho.

Tattoos:

Bucky Katt from 'Get Fuzzy' on my shoulder.
A heart and vines on my lower back.

[KT0930]

Tattoos:

Bucky Katt from 'Get Fuzzy' on my shoulder.
A heart and vines on my lower back.

I love Bucky! He's such a smart-a**.

[paddbear0000]

That's why I got it! 

[okarol]

For Traci - I know this photo is posted somewhere else but I cannot find it so posting again. This is Jenna's transplant incision scar at 6 months post-op.
They used surgical glue so she never had any staples or drainage, and there was no bandage or dressing afterward. It was really amazing how quickly it healed.
Two years later it's practically invisible, maybe she will let me take a photo later.

[mikey07840]

If the FBI wanted to profile the members of this site we sure are giving them enough information to do a complete job.

That made me laugh!

I have many scars... the most interesting is the 14 inch "v" scar from my radical nephrectomy. I always point to it and say "land shark" when people ask or stare.

[Chris]

I have to comeback to this topic to post my answer and photo of scar or scars.

[okarol]

 

[monrein]

I now have two seven inch diagonal scars that start just under my pelvic bone and meet in a V.  Then right in the middle, I have a three inch scar from an appendectomy.  Together they make a sort of W (the initial of my surname) or a huge arrow pointing straight at my crotch.  It all depends which explanation I prefer on a given day. 

[paddbear0000]

    Monrein, your second explanation literally had me on the floor laughing!!

I'll have to get a picture of my graft scar to post. Oh yeah, and from my chest cath.

[okarol]

  funny image!

[Chris]

Starting in my left arm, I have one on my hand for a rusted door falling on and in my hand, at my wrist for my fistula then one at the bend of my elbow for my graft and one in my underarm for the graft, then on my right arm, a scar on my fore finger and wrist (hand thru a windshield in autobody class). On my head, I have one in the back of my head on the right side, one below my left eye and one in my eyebrow on the same eye, but diferent occassions and ages, and a scar near my lower lip on the left side from a chain sproket going thru (forgot how that happened while working on my bike). Next that I know of is 3 in my lef clavicle area for catherters for dialysis followed by a midline scar 5 inches above the navel, around, and then down midline another 5 or 7 inches. Going down  my left leg I have some scars on my knee doing stupid stuff on a bicycle as a kid and then one on my left foot on the medial side. I also have a burn scar on my left foot from hot oil. There might be some more on my neck from catherters from transplant, but can't see them, but hurt like a  *** when they put them in while I was awake.

[paddbear0000]

Geez Chris. You were quite the accident prone kid, weren't you?   

[Chris]

Geez Chris. You were quite the accident prone kid, weren't you?   

Um, most happened later in life though

Guess I should have put them in chronological order 

[Jeffro02]

let me just say 1st of all this site is awesome! lol, ok here is my list.
12 weeks-collapsed lung
16 weeks-skin graf(wrong meds in iv in my hand caused vein to bust)
2yrs old-kidneys failed, got 1st kidney from my mom with in 6 weeks, lasted 17 and half years, developed renal cell cancer in 11/03,started dialysis
feb 04'-stroke due to high blood pressure bleeding in the brain.
april 06'-left lower lung lobectomy due to trapt mucus in my lung causing re occuring pneumonia
oh and also all the lil surgieries for shunts, and catheters.
11/06-2nd kidney transplant.
then 11/07-broke both hips in a motorcycle wreck and was lucky cuz wasnt wearing a helmet and didnt hurt my head at all left hospital with a MARSA staf infection had to go back and was in hospital for 4 MONTHS!!.

but now im all better trying to live each day ya know, I'm young I'm 24 I've been through alot but hey it could be worse right. I love the scar talley ups on here I think I have about 37 scars, long and short HA!

Thank you for reading my book!

[kimcanada]

Thank you for reading my book!

[Hanify]

On my nose ridge between my eyes from falling onto a broken drain pipe when I was little.
One on my right index finger from high school when a light (as in concert/theatre type light) fell onto me when I was standing on the stage trying my hardest to be a groupie with a visiting band.  That'll teach me...
Five (or six) holes at the sides of my lungs from various attempts to drain fluid.
Left and right neck from dialysis thingies, and upper right chest from the same.
Best one is a big scar at the back on the right from a decortisation of my lung.  I always say I'm an angel and they had to remove one of my wings.  That's what it looks like.
Two scars from getting catheter placed, then fixed.

[MandaMe1986]

One the inside on my right arm almost at my elbow I have a nasty burn scar.  When I was about 5 I was helping my grandmother wash some cloths. She had one of those old washing machine that had the rubber rollers on it to ring out the cloths. Well she went inside to get the phone and told me not to do anymore until she got back.  Well I decided I was gonna try one by myself.  So I somehow get my arm stuck in the dam rollers!  I am screaming and what not. And by the time my grandma got my arm out it was all burned up. Below is a picture of a washer like the one she had.

[Brianna!]

 

This is gonna be fun. haha

Perma cath scars.

Long scar on my right arm, from the elbow crease to my armpit. It was to move the fistula up to the surface.

Another scar on my right arm, where they made the fistula in the first place.

Left arm-first fistula that failed, scar.

On my stomach-I had some bladder stuff done. So I have a big scar there, it's like a circle thing.

On my back-some surgery when I was like 5? I don't even know what it's from! All I know is that they didn't' ask my parents permission, and they just took me in and did it. And the didn't even need to do it! And that got infected, so they had to stuff it, and pull the stuff out. Yeah. My parents needed to hold me down because I was kicking and screaming, obviously! The had to change the gauze like 4 times a day for a couple weeks.

On my ankle-I was walking my dog, and I had one of those retractable leashes, and he went around me, and the rope part of the leash wrapped around my ankle. I got rope burn and a scar around my ankle.

On my knee, I poked myself with a pencil on accident when I was little, and there a little scar there! haha

I think that's it. I probably forgot some!

[pamster42000]

Sarah had scars. See if I can remember:
1 scar on upper chest from subclavian access
2  scar on eye lashes from chicken poxes....right eye missing a few lashes.....that one always got the Dr's. Always asked her what happened.
3  scars from two kidney transplants
4 scar from parathyroid surgery
5 scar on left leg from surgery, broken bone and an added bonus a sore developed on her heel while she had the cast
6  fistula with many bumps on it
There probley was more but me being 47 going on 48 my memory isn't as good as it used to be  ...... but these are the tattoes of Sarah's life.

[Stoday]

There's a little story behind the scar on my right wrist (not my fistula wrist).

I had just got out of my bath and whilst drying off I practiced a speech I was to make the next day. I was gesticulating in front of the bathroom mirror and gashed my wrist on it. Lots of blood, so my wife called for an ambulance. The ambulance guys were writing their report and wanted to know what I was doing when the accident occurred. "Gesticulating" I said. I was naked apart from my dressing gown and I could see from the expression on the ambulance guy's face that he didn't know what "gesticulating" meant and was forming some curious idea in his mind...

[Lisa]