Hey BAKEY1505 and welcome to the forum.

It's great to hear you finished your treatment earlier this year although I'm sorry for the worry you have about your cancer coming back. Many of our members know how difficult it can be to contend with such thoughts so you are not alone and I'm sure you will receive some support and advice from them soon. I hope this article I've found addressing the fear of cancer returning will help as well.

In regards to your question about how long to wait before getting a tattoo, our cancer nurses may be able to help so if you'd like to discuss this with them, they're available on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi,

My hubbie is two years post stem cell transplant and one year post DLI. He has just got the tattoo he wanted right before he was diagnosed.

He did discuss it with his Haem team and how to make it as safe as possible. Hubbie has bleeding/clotting issues at the mo, so that was a big factor. The levels of your white blood cells/immune function will also be important cos a tattoo is essentially a big wound that puts you at risk of infection. I remember chatting to my tattoo artist at the time about when he could get one and she said essentially when he's feeling well.

I should say, after initially supporting him, my hubbies Dr then advised against it. But he went ahead and got the tattoo anyway! He has had no issues with it healing, if anything it was just weird for him being in public again after shielding so long.

So we would definitely recommend going ahead :-)