2/13 For those of you that don’t know what’s going on, I have been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. My entire world his been flipped upside down and I am terrified. I just got a full body CT scan and the Dr said that it doesn’t look like it has spread into the liver or lungs. I have a consultation on Monday Feb 17 for surgery. I appreciate everyone’s thoughts and understanding.
UPDATE 6/8/2020
I've finished all of my chemo and radiation treatments and my most recent PET scan on June 1 showed no malignant activity and my tumor is gone! I will still be getting the esophagectomy surgery in the end of June, as all of my doctors say it is the best plan of action to ensure any cancer cells that the scan may have not detected are removed. It is a major surgery with a very long recovery, but I am looking forward to a long cancer-free life with my family.
UPDATE 12/1/2020
I had the esophagectomy surgery on June 30th. Aside from a few bumps in the road all went well. The cancer was cut out with clean margins, and I had a clean followup scan, but due to some lymph node activity in the tissue that was taken out my medical team recommended that I do another round of chemo to help to hopefully prevent recurrence of the cancer. I've been getting treatments every two weeks since late September. I'm very slowly getting back to tattooing on non-chemo weeks starting with only local clients just in case I end up needing to cancel or reschedule. I thank all of you so very much for your patience and understanding. I look forward to working with you, continuing and new clients, in the near future. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
UPDATE 9/23/2021
After completing adjuvant chemotherapy this January I was NED for several months. Unfortunately in August my routine CAT scan revealed that some severe pain in my back was being caused by some lymph nodes where the cancer has returned, It also appears to be in some small spots in my lungs, I'm currently on my third bout of chemo, with added antibody therapy. Although I'm disappointed in the results, I'm confident and determined to obliterate this disease. I'm not currently tattooing as I get my footing with this new treatment, and will only be working on clients that were already scheduled once I return initially. I will take on new clients once I'm back to health and caught up with existing clients after the New Year.
UPDATE 2/17/2023
It's been a long journey with lots of ups and downs. Last fall I was in so much pain that I was house/wheelchair bound for a couple of months. My oncologist changed my therapy to immunotherapy and I have been doing so very much better. I have no pain, am walking just fine and am finally easing back into work. I am mostly concentrating on clients that had to be rescheduled due to my health situation but am also open to taking on a few new projects that pique my interest. I'm so thankful for my medical team, my family, and everyone who has kept me in their thoughts through all of this!
My father being an artist, I grew up with a deep appreciation for art. My original passion was for photography, inspired by the work of Robert Maplethorpe.
I have been tattooing full time for 28 years. I am also an oil painter by commission, sell my paintings online and am also represented by Abend Gallery in Denver. I play guitar for This Patch of Sky.
I carried the inspiration of deep contrast and chiaroscuro of Robert Maplethorpe's photography into my tattooing and painting careers. I'm also drawn to classical art and contemporary realism.
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