Schneider: Mom won tattoo removal; it's still there and doctor's leaving

Schneider: Mom won tattoo removal; it's still there and doctor's leaving
November 13, 2007
John Schneider
LSJ.com

Kristi Doe's teenage rebellion took the form of a tattoo. And it wasn't just a discreet rosebud on the small of her back, or a chain around her ankle; it was a skull wearing a top hat, clenching a flower stem in its teeth. It covered much of her upper left arm.

In 2004, as the result of a column I wrote, Doe, who lives in Lansing, got a shot at redemption. A local doctor - Greg Shannon, of Haslett's Advanced Health and Image - offered to remove Doe's tattoo for free.

More than three years later, the job remains incomplete.

In a recent e-mail to me Doe wrote: "I was told it would only take about a year. Well, I am still receiving laser treatments (once every 4 weeks)."

But that wasn't the worst part. Doe learned recently that Dr. Shannon is leaving town.

"Now, I am left with a partially removed tattoo," she wrote.

Leaving town

Shannon confirmed Monday that he has sold his interest in the Haslett practice, and will now concentrate on hair restoration outside the Lansing area.

"Michigan's economy just can't support expensive cosmetic procedures," he said.

As for Doe, the doctor, though not recalling her specifically, said some colors and types of ink can't be removed with the equipment available to him, adding that an 80-percent reduction is considered to be a "success." Doe, he said, was aware of that before the treatments began.

Doe is a 29-year-old mother of a 6-year-old girl.

She became Shannon's patient after I wrote a column about my own near miss on a bad body-art decision when I was a 19-year-old sailor.

Responding to that column, Shannon proposed a contest. He offered a free tattoo removal (a $600 value at the time) to the person making the most compelling cry of regret.

The State Journal invited local ink-stained wretches to make their cases. Then we asked readers to vote over the Internet. Doe won.

"I'm tired of seeing people's faces when they notice it," Doe said at the time. "So many people have told me it does not belong on me at all."

End of the line

Doe said Monday that she never really got an explanation of why the tattoo removal was taking so long. However, Shannon said Doe was, indeed, informed of the difficulty of erasing green, yellow and orange ink.

Doe learned at her most recent laser treatment - on Thursday - that it was the last one.

Shannon said six laser treatments - which Doe described as "painful" - will remove most tattoos. After 12, he added, there isn't much chance of accomplishing anything further. Doe got 25 treatments.

Shannon speculated that Doe continued the treatment for three years simply because it was free.

But Doe said she continued because she didn't want to leave the job half done. And at the most recent appointment, Doe said, the technician told her that the treatment was continuing to remove ink.

What am I supposed to do now?" she asked.