Thursday Jan 1:I'm getting my apadravya tomorrow. It's almost surreal. I have been envisioning it for 4 months, sketching it, looking at jewelry, and now it almost time. Needless to say, I am scared out of my mind. Am I nuts for wanting this? What's wrong with me? This is to be my first piercing. I have no earrings or anything else. I do have one moderately sized tattoo, so I am familiar with the staff at BodyBasics (in Chicago) and the cleanliness procedures. Everyone says the Reverend Mad Jack is the best, so thats where I am going.
Many questions are running through my mind - will I scream? Will I bleed? Will I be able to pee standing up? How long will I be in pain? Is it worth it? My heart is pounding...
Fri Jan 2 (before):
OK, it's in a few hours. I've been taking Centrum for two weeks now, preparing my body to heal this fairly serious wound. I'm showered and washed, clean boxer-briefs ready to go. We're leaving early because we need to park, eek. More when I return.
Fri Jan 2 (after):
It's done. I did it. Holy shit, I really did it. We arrived at about 4:00, checked in, filled out the paperwork, got carded, and waited for Jack to be ready. A friend (Lish) had traveled a fair distance to watch (she is a learning piercer) and she met up with us (my girlfriend Michelle, a friend who was to video tape my face during the procedure, and I) there. When Jack came down, he immediately ruled out the video camera. He said it was against policy, and that it was not allowed. No big deal, I was just having some fun. Lish ran out to feed the parking meter, and we went upstairs to the "black room".
My first impression of Jack was that he was kind of gruff. He went over after care VERY meticulously, and asked if I had any questions. When Lish got back, we were told that only 2 people were allowed to observe, and the apprentice (for this pierce at least) Arthur was present also, and so she could not join us. That kind of made me frustrated, but I was not going to break policy. Once the aftercare was explained, I was told to strip from the waist down. Jack then had a good laugh as I tried to figure out the stirrups. He explained how to get in, and I did. I have never felt so vulnerable as I did then. Jack, Arthur and Michelle could see everything I had to show. Jack measured, estimated a 1" 14 guage SSS barbell, and told me to relax.
He spoke to Arthur, but in a manner that I could understand. He explained the placement. He explained that the bottom would be placed off center, to avoid migration with the frenulum skin, and that the top would line up dead center, most of the way back to the crown of the glans. I got a scolding for touching one of the paper towels, so I could see the placement. Oops. Guess that was a brain-fart. All the jewelry was out, and I started deep breathing. Michelle came towards the head of the chair, and squeezed my hand.
I felt the first little prick on the underside, and realized that there was no forceps for this. The bottom half (a PA, I guess) was easy, almost painless. I could feel the needle as it started at the top of the urethra, and THAT is where the fun started. At first it was no big deal. Someone pressed the sweat button, though. I was suddenly drenched. The pain was medium, and felt more like a hard pressure than a pinch. I could feel the needle moving (SO SLOWLY!) through each chunk of the glans. the pain suddenly got pretty intense. I remember saying "this is starting to hurt..this sucks...this really sucks". Michelle said my face was pretty contorted. I kept thinking "Its _GOT_ to be out by now". After about 3 seconds (it seemed like 3 years) I felt the "pop" as it exited, dead on the mark.
I took a few breaths, released Michelle's crushed hand, and looked down. There it was. A (huge) 14 guage needle protruding from the end of my dick. recall, this is my first piercing. The high was intense. Jack got the jewelry ready and I laid down again, ready for more. The jewelry hurt a lot, but it was more of a burning than a pinch (as was the last part of the piercing itself), and was over in a flash. "It's done" he said. Sure enough, i looked down, and saw him screwing the top bead on the barbell.
Here was the realization of 4 months of anticipation. What a way to bring in the new year. There was almost NO blood. Jack wrapped me up, explained how to do it myself, and told me to get dressed. GENTLY, I did. I could feel the throb of it. As I dressed, Jack quizzed me on aftercare, and reviewed the details.
Afterwards, I sat in on Michelle's horizontal hood piercing. I got very hot, and sweaty, and almost passed out, but managed to take off my sweater and get a grip. A few minutes later, I was downstairs, talking to people, with a huge, shit-eating grin on my face.
I haven't urinated yet. I'm scared to unwrap it.
Sat Jan 3:
Well, I eventually urinated (no problem) and performed my first washing. It hurts to move the jewelry, and there was some blood around both holes (isn't that every man's worst nightmare?). I got a bit sick at that and this mornings cleaning, just queezy. I got a few erections in the night (or got partial ones, rather ;). The pain of that woke me up quickly. There was a fair amount of blood (probably from th erections) this morning. It still throbs, but I am walking OK (a bit slowly) and living normally.
Sun Jan 4:
No blood this morning. I had a whopper erection, too. I noticed that the beads pressed _HARD_ when I got the erection, I need to get a bigger barbell. Less pain moving the jewelry, too.
Sun Jan 4 (later):
Arthur was good enough to change my barbell up to a 1 1/8". Seems much better, though a bit irritated again. Still, no blood.
Mon Jan 5:
No pain at this mornings washing. The bruising is still present, but I could move the jewelry with no pain. I am wearing it with no wrapping today. The irritation from movement has been minimal, but enough to feel. I may end up wrapping it later. All I can think about is how damn cool it looks. I haven't been able to squick anyone yet. No one I've offered it to wants to see it. Oh well, their loss.
Final notes:
I love it. I am so glad I went through with it. My main goal was to prove to myself that regardless of what my friends think, or of what obstacles there are, I can do what I want. It was mind over matter. The pain was of no consequence. I know this document is nether prophetic nor all-important, but I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences with anyone who wanted to read them. I am only on my third day with it, so I guess we have yet to see how it really turns out.
Thanks a ton to all the people in rec.arts.bodyart for pointing me towards Mad jack, giving me plenty of sound advice and reading material, and damn you all for getting this piercing stuck on my mind ;)
What's next? Nipples probably. Definately a frenum loop (damn cool looking), maybe hafadas? We'll see I guess.
Tim
Notes later:
I did eventually re-wrap it. The jostling spurred a bit of bleeding. The majority of pain comes from the top area of the piercing, but the irritation, bruising, and blood are mostly near the bottom hole.
I made the switch from boxer-briefs (kinda tight) to boxer shorts last night, and it seems to have helped the irritation a whole lot, as well as pain while walking. I was under the impression that boxer-briefs would "hold it in place" and prevent jostling, but in reality, they put more strain than was necessary. Boxers give more freedom to move without pressure.
I am still looking for a way of securing the paper-towel around the little guy, without it falling off. I can not find a rubber band that fits (too loose or too tight) and the paper-towel slips off eventually.
I trimmed the pubic hairs along the base of the shaft, and in surrounding areas, and on the scrotum. They were getting caught in the ointment, and I figured it couldn't hurt.
T.H.