Statler and Waldorf

I have loved the Muppets since I was 2 years old. Muppet Babies was one of my favorite shows as a child. So much so that at the age of two, I named a kitten Muppet.

When Tyree and I started talking about what my next tattoo project would be (while finishing up the Disney Villains sleeve), I said the only thing I ever really liked enough to tattoo on me would be the Muppets.

Once I decided to add a Muppets thigh piece to my tattoos, I knew I had to start with Statler and Waldorf. Their back and forth sarcastic banter is something I look for in all relationships. (I realize that is probably not healthy.. oh well.)

I was a bit worried about tattooing on my Lipedema thighs as Google searches were giving me mixed results. I know that tattooing on the lower part of my legs that are affected by Lymphedema is a big no-no. But there isn’t a set answer on Lipedema areas. I realized after I stressed over this for quite a while that I had already done a pretty big tattoo (Ursula) on my upper arm Lipedema. (It was only back in May that I realized my upper arms were affected by Lipedema as well as my thighs and hips. I had been told it was a lower half of the body type issue.)

On June 12th, The two old guys in the balcony found a spot on my thigh. Now at this point, I’ve had about 14 tattoo sessions and yet I was nervous. I was worried that tattooing on my Lipedema thigh could be a huge mistake. I had no idea what the pain was going to be like or if the possible extra lymph fluid could be an issue.

The actual tattoo was pretty normal. The pain was a bit stronger at different moments or spots. I can sit pretty well for sessions without really reacting but there were times the needle made my leg twitch. It was after if it hit a nerve or tender spot and I couldn’t control the reaction. The difficult thing seemed to be that my thigh pinks up really bad as he was working on it. That made seeing if the skin tones of Statler and Waldorf were saturated enough hard.

The healing seemed pretty normal for the first few days. I started to notice more of an issue once we got to the scabbing part. The extra lymph fluid made some of the scabs not want to actually dry. It caused some deep scabbing that was a little painful in spots. But overall it was a pretty normal tattoo experience that needed minimal touching up (mostly the white of the eyes).