I took a bunch of time off from work to "recharge" or at least get away from it. This seemed like a convenient time to get the PA I've been wanting for years, as it'd have time to heal a bit before having to go back to work.
At A Glance Author macmanchad Contact macmanchad@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Brian Garcia Studio Black Hole Body Piercing Location Portland, Oregon I went to Black Hole Body Piercing on NE Glisan in Portland, OR. I got a recommendation from somebody else I know who has one, but didn't get his there. I called on a Thursday to find out if they could even do it there or if there was only a specific piercer that could do it or if I needed an appointment. As it turned out, I could've gone in that evening to have it done (but I chickened out) so I went in the next day (a Friday). The girl who answered the phone was super nice and quoted me a price, even though I really didn't care what it was going to run.
I figured that I'd go and get a bunch of errands taken care of prior to going in, just in case I didn't feel like moving around too much afterward. So, went to Ikea and the grocery store and all that, then headed in.
I walked in, noticed the "No Cell Phones" sign, turned mine off, told the guy who ended up being my piercer (Brian Garcia) that I wanted to get a PA, he had me fill out some paperwork basically saying I wouldn't sue them if something went horribly horribly wrong (and if something did go horribly, horribly wrong, that I agreed to binding arbitration), and took me upstairs to the little examination table. On the way, he tapped the "No Cell Phones" sign while looking at the girl who came in after me who was blabbing away on hers.
I was worried, aside from having a needle getting shoved into my dick, that I wouldn't get pierced because the only other time I'd been pierced (my nipple) I passed out afterward. Brian assured me that it happens sometimes, confirmed that I'd eaten within the last four hours, and actually had me lay down on the exam table.
Brian was actually incredibly nice and smooth through the entire procedure. Two different sets of gloves, a separate ink pen to show where the hole would be, then talked me through it as he started working the receiving tube in (I didn't get to see anything happening as I was laying down).
B: You ever had a catheter?
M: No ...ah... errghhh...
B: Well this is kind of what it feels like. Now I'm going to have you do some breathing exercises...
M: [starts breathing deeply] Yeow!
B: Ok, not too bad, and just going to put the jewelry in...
M: Ye... aow...
B: And we're done. Eat this.
And he handed me one of those big glucose things to chew on while I looked at his handiwork. I had been pierced at a 12g and then immediately had 10g jewelry put in, which explained why I had the second hit of pain. I pulled up my pants and sat down in the guest chair in the exam room and slurped on some water, but got that cloggy feeling in my ears and started getting light-headed, so I told Brian that and he gave me another glucose chew, had me lay back down on the exam table with my legs elevated.
The feeling went away shortly afterward. But while I was waiting, I told him everything I knew about getting stuff for free on a cell phone (google text, google 411, microsoft's tell me service) and other random bits of technological factoids regarding the cell phone industry. Feeling like a dork, I headed downstairs, quizzed the cashier girl about how much to tip (I ended up leaving 15%), paid my bill, got aftercare instructions, and took off for home.
Now, it's still healing, I've had it for a week. It only bled a bit through the second day, and has been getting less and less sore each day subsequent. I didn't really think about the consequences before, but peeing hasn't really changed. The jewelry kind of redirects the stream a bit, but no pee comes out of the lower hole; I can still pee standing up, but just need to rotate the jewelry up as far as I can and stand over the toilet/urinal.
Overall, I'm loving it, and can't wait to stretch it. It definitely didn't hurt as bad as my nipple did (and Brian explained why) and seems to be healing much more gracefully. I'll be going back to Black Hole to hopefully have Brian work on me again. Future plans include stretching the PA, and most likely getting a frenum ladder. I can't wait!