Quote: "I have rambled on long enough, but before I end, I would like to say that based on last nights experience I would have no hesitation in getting pierced by T-gun again and again."
At A Glance Author guineapig Contact guineapig@bme.anon IAM guineapig When A week ago Artist Teagan Studio Anatomic Adornments Location 848 Granville, Vancouver, BC The above quote was part of the last paragraph in my experience called "T-gunned lobes.", a story about the first piercings that Teagan had done on someone other than herself. Last Saturday was the first of what will be many agains as she did her first unassisted piercing, an eight gauge scrotal. My ladder piercings had been completed, stretching all the rings to eight gauge CBR's is all that remains, I've had a few weeks break in my piercings, there was very little lymph production in the last few scrotals that had been pierced and my ears had been balanced with the addition of the rook in the right ear, it was time to continue the scrotal project.
Since doing my lobes, T-gun had been busy learning and doing stretching piercings and changing jewellery for clients but had only done one other supervised piercing else. Jody decided that she knew enough to do one on her own, T-gun also felt ready and since the lobes had gone so well, I naturally volunteered. I had thought that T-gun would be doing the piercing that I had scheduled for the Wednesday before but that one was done by Jody as T-gun had the day off, conditions permitted me to schedule a piercing on the Saturday before Anatomic Adornment closed because renovations were being done in the store that they shared space with. I sent an instant message to T-gun to let her know about the appointment, this would either give her some time to look forward to it or further prepare for it. I got back a "woohoo! spiffy", apparently she would be looking forward to it.
I have many scrotal piercings, for me they are a routine piercing, I didn't think that I would get as stoked about this piercing as I did, since the appointment was made, I was really looking forward to this piercing. I knew that this piercing was going to go exactly as I thought it would go, perfect. Saturday came and I went through my prepiercing rituals, salt soak and then a shower just before I go, I expect the piercer and the piercing room to be as clean as possible when I get pierced, so the least I can do is be as clean as I can be as well. The Skytrain trip into Vancouver, sushi for lunch, and stop in at the shop to make sure that things are as scheduled, they are, and I go kill some time, I am stoked. I get back to the shop a few minutes before time, there are some other customers in the shop and when they are taken care of we go into the piercing room, Jody and T-gun have traded places, it looked different to see Jody staying out front when I get pierced.
After I get my coat and pants off, I sit on the edge of the piercing table and watch T-gun get things ready for the piercing. In between the glove changes which occur at the end of each stage, she gets the things needed for cleaning the area. Next come the tools that she will or might need come out of the packages that they were autoclaved in are placed on the table as well, the eight gauge needle still in its package joins them, placed so I can't see it, everything looks good so far. After carefully cleaning the area she does the marking, bear in mind that I have over thirty scrotal piercings and she has to work around them. I do what I can to keep things out of her way, I look down to check the marking and it all looks good, the marking was done with me standing up so that everything is in it's natural position. The marking is complete, I lay down on the table, the atmosphere in the room is very relaxed and we maintain a light conversation about piercing and other th ings.
Yes, I know that it's an eight gauge needle but this is also an easy piercing, so it should be no problem, I put my head back, relax and get my breathing slowed down, T-gun places the clamp on, checks with me about the pressure, it's fine. She's ready and tells me to take deep breaths and does the count, on four the needle goes through, my breath leaves faster but it was an easy piercing. Now it's time for the ring to be put in, it's a bit stubborn and doesn't follow the needle as it should, T-gun has been telling me what is happening it and she tells me this as well. This is the "just in case" she had the taper ready for, she takes the taper off the tray, pushes it through the hole, the ring follows along quite nicely and the bead is placed in the ring, a bit of cleaning around the piercing and we are finished. T-gun cleans up the room and I get dressed after admiring my new piercing, a quick high five and we leave the room, she did well. Jody wants to hear all about i t and we talk about it for the next while. If I had not known that this was her first piercing, I would not have been aware of it by the way she worked, calm, relaxed and deliberate in her actions but then I am a calm, relaxed client as well and emotions feed on each other.
There was no blood during the piercing, I went home, soaked and took a longer close look at the piercing, she had hit the marks perfectly, I had a hard time finding them and I knew where they would be! The next morning there was slight swelling but then that was to be expected and normal still no blood, good. My usual soak and then it was time to get ready to visit my very conservative family, my sister was in town and I hadn't seen her for a while. Later on, in the midst of four generations of family, I thought I noticed some moisture in my crotch, I lifted the plate off my lap and looked down, and there was a 2-3 inch patch of blood soaking through my jeans, oh SHIT!! I casually got up and went to the bathroom, dropped my jeans and was greeted by a bloody crotch and underwear. I wished I had my camera with me but it was at home and so I started cleaning. Somehow it managed to stay undetected and I was able to discreetly leave and get home, wonder if anyone on the Sk ytrain noticed. Got home and took pictures on the webcam and had a soak. The next morning there was still a bit of blood but otherwise it was fine, I hate delayed reactions.
It's now been a week since the piercing, the blood stopped a few days ago and the crusties are in constant production, no pain at all but the swelling is still there. Blood is one thing that you must expect when piercing with large needles, but it does get me to the final gauge right away so, for me, it's fine, don't always enjoy the stretching, sometimes they are more painful than the piercing was.
Anatomic Adornments already has two of the best piercers in the Vancouver area in Syx and Jody, in my opinion, they also have one of the better up and comers as well with the emergence of T-gun as a piercer. So, if you are in the Vancouver area in B.C., stop by say Hi, or get pierced or buy some of their high quality, locally made SS jewellery, can't think of a better souvenir. Feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions, always willing to talk about my experiences.