My newest tattoo; When I was born, I was born with half of a heart… basically, the way it’s explained to me is that all of the parts of a whole heart developed on top of each other, so it was only the size of half of a heart. I’m the only documented case of this ever. I also had severe kidney problems. Doctors told my parents that there was little to no chance I was going to live because I had too many health problems and while they could repair my kidneys through multiple kidney surgeries, they had zero idea how to even begin to develop a surgery to repair my heart. Then, a heart surgeon, from out of town, caught wind of what was going on and said he would be willing to try and develop a surgery to rebuild the other side of my heart with the excess I had on the one side. He, along with a ton of other doctors, sat down, developed a surgery, and went ahead with attempting it. They still told my parents though that even if it was successful and I survived, I would never lead a normal and healthy life, and that I would have chronic health problems and that my quality of life would not be that of a normal person’s. Here I am, 20 years later, and what my doctors have called a miracle. I have a valve that leaks, take two pills a day, and need to see a cardiologist every 6 months, but other than that, I’m fine. I’m completely normal and you would never even know I have had life threatening health problems unless I’m wearing a shirt where you can see my scars. Doctors always told my parents I’d need at least one more open heart surgery, but I’ve never even come close to needing another one.
Sometimes, I think I forget that I was almost robbed of my life and that the only reason I lived was because I fought through it, so I got this tattoo to remind me that no matter how bad things may seem at times, everyday is a gift that I almost didn’t get to experience.
Done by Taylor at Hyperion Tattoo in Buffalo, NY, he’s awesome.
