January 11, 2025 • 10 mins
It's been about six months since I put out an episode of Ink Medicine. I am back. Hello. May this new year of 2025 bring us some unexpected joys.
I got chopped. I concentrated on healing solely for a while. Now I am slowly getting back to my regular life. Including this.
It's good to be here. I will talk to you next week.
You can connect with me, Micah Riot, as well as see my tattoo art on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/micahriot/
Micah's website is www.micahriot.com
The podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout but truly lives in the heart of Micah's website at:
https://www.micahriot.com/ink-medicine-podcast/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Micah Riot (00:27):
Hi darlings.
It's been a while, micah.
Here I'm a little bit out ofpractice, but what are we going
to do?
Get back into it.
It's a new year, 2025.
It's January the 10th and I'mnot having the usual enthusiasm
about starting a fresh year,probably because the state is
(00:58):
burning, california is burning,you know who's about to become
president and things feeluncertain.
But what we really got to do isstay present, certain, but what
we really got to do is staypresent, love the people we love
, do the things that make usfeel good and support each other
and support artists, feelourselves in ways that are good
(01:18):
for us.
We're going to need thatstrength for whatever is coming
next, and that's where I'm at.
So I want to start this thingback up.
It has been about six monthsand it was a good break.
It was a needed break, and I donot have it in me to upload an
(01:39):
episode every week, as I did thefirst year.
It was a really good exerciseand I was really happy that I
did it, but I do not think I'llhave it in me, but I want to be
here, I want to make episodes.
I love the idea of talking toyou and you listening and I have
some episodes planned withinterviews with really
(02:01):
interesting folks, and I'm sureI have some things to teach you
about tattooing, tattoo culture,share some thoughts of mine
about tattoos and tattoo cultureand also nothing to do with
tattoos at all as well.
I wanted to give you a littleupdate about me.
(02:23):
What's been coming up with mefor the last not so much six
months that's going a little farback but the last couple months
and so the last couple months Iwas healing I finally, after
about 20 years of thinking aboutit, got top surgery and for
those unfamiliar, it is a doublemastectomy done for the sake of
(02:47):
mental and physical comfort.
It is gender related.
It is um for me.
For me, it was elective.
It's not elective for everytrans person out there.
A lot of trans people need tohave these physical
modifications to feel like theywant to be here, like they want
to live.
For me, it was a choice based onfeeling like I, too, deserve
(03:13):
feeling comfortable, but I didnot feel like I couldn't live
without it for me personally,and still I decided to do it.
I decided I didn't need tocompare my desires and wants and
degrees of need to otherpeople's, so I decided to do it
(03:36):
and 20 years ago, when I firstwas thinking about it, I just
never thought that I couldafford it.
Back then, insurance wasn'tcovering the surgery and also I
was working putting togetherless than minimum wage jobs to
pay $500 rent and buy a fewgroceries, and I just didn't
(03:57):
think that I could ever setaside enough money or have
enough money to do this, becausebesides the surgery fees,
there's also the living expensesthat one incurs while healing,
because you cannot work for Iwould say, at least a month, but
more like six weeks.
Yeah, it's taken me a long timeto get to this place where I
(04:20):
could feel like I could actuallymake it work logistically.
And here we are.
I'm on the other side of that.
I'm back to work.
I'm feeling really good Everyday when I put on my clothes or
put a t-shirt on work.
I'm feeling really good Everyday when I put on my clothes or
put a t-shirt on.
I feel really comfortable.
I love not wearing any type ofbra or layering if I don't want
(04:41):
to.
It just feels so good andliberating and I just feel like
now my body is all mine, likethere's nothing kind of attached
to it.
That's not mine.
It's not that I feel like it'sall perfect now.
You know like I still have mylittle complaints about things,
but overall it just feels moremine.
There's, as I said, nothingextra.
(05:02):
It's like more streamlined.
It's so nice, it's a nicefeeling and I think yeah, I
think my partner said is severaltimes.
She said she's never seen methis happy with my body, and
that's it's a nice observationto receive from someone who has
been with me for the last sixyears and has seen me struggle
(05:23):
in different ways.
A couple months before that, Iwas getting ready for the couple
months that came after I did alittle fundraiser.
I felt really loved by thesupport I received and the money
(05:43):
people gave me and the foodpeople brought me and the lovely
messages checking in on me.
It felt really good.
I tried to work as much as Icould leading up to it to also
save up a little bit more money.
And then I had my surgery andyou know I was so nervous about
the surgery part and that day,yes, I was so nervous, but it
was sort of the easiest maybeday because we arrived early in
(06:08):
the morning.
I think we arrived at like 6.30, 6 o'clock or 6.30.
And I felt very calm goingthere and my partner was able to
come in with me and be with meuntil they wheeled me away into
the operating room and they, youknow, ask you a bunch of
questions and there's the finalconversation with the surgeon.
But they also gave me Valium tohelp me with my nerves and so
(06:33):
by the time I was talking to thesurgeon it had started to kick
in and I was just like reallyhappy and just being like, just
make it look good, it's all good.
Good thing.
He knew what I wanted.
We had discussed it before, theValium on board.
I was happy and it all happenedand it was really fast and I
(06:54):
did not wake up in the middle ofsurgery like so many of us are
afraid would happen.
And then it was over.
I think that, yeah, we got therebefore 7 am and I think that I
think Liz picked me up around 11.
So 7 to 11.
It was really fast.
And then she took me home andon the way home I was in pain
(07:17):
but I also got some drugs whenwe got home and then the pain
went away and then I just didn'treally feel a lot of pain after
that.
That was kind of the only timeI was feeling badly, so, pin
wise, everything was prettysmooth.
You know it's uncomfortable,not really a lot of pain.
The hardest part was probablynot being able to do much and
(07:38):
having having to ask people tohelp me and just, uh, feeling
frustrated when people couldn'tread my mind.
And sleeping on my back,although I did get one of those
pregnancy pillows If you'regoing to get the surgery, I
think this is a really reallyawesome piece of equipment that
(08:01):
you need.
I actually didn't use any otherspecial equipment besides this
pregnancy pillow.
Sleeping with it kind of curledaround you, you just kind of
feel cocooned and you can't rolland your arms feel really
comfortable.
So I recommend.
So that's kind of what I'vebeen up to.
I also read a lot of books thispast year and I'm going to be
putting out an episode about allthe books that I read.
(08:23):
This will be the next episodecoming up next week.
And I also have been reallyobsessively getting into perfume
.
I mean I've always been intoperfume.
Um, getting into perfume, Imean I've always been into
perfume, but I sort of fell awayfor a few years because I just
felt like nobody around me wasinto it and I just thought I
(08:43):
would be annoying to peoplearound me with my perfume and
then I just decided that Iwanted to smell my samples again
and I pulled them out, startedsmelling.
I somehow got onto a perfumetalk on TikTok and it just
fueled my obsession.
It's looking at notes, orderingsamples, smelling things,
(09:05):
testing things, talking aboutperfumes, listening to people
talk about perfumes.
It's been the other thing I'vebeen busy with while I've been
healing and I've also beenmaking stickers.
I made a bunch of new stickersfor folks who donated money to
my healing fund and I'm now busygiving out the stickers and
(09:27):
some other things I made forthose folks.
That's kind of where I'm at.
That's what I've been doing.
Thank you for listening.
Kind of where I'm at, that'swhat I've been doing.
Thank you for listening.
I appreciate you still beinghere, or being here again or
being new.
It's good.
It feels good to be back.
May this year bring us manymore joys that are unexpected
(09:48):
and if you're anywhere near LA,stay safe.
What's the thing that's beenmaking me happy lately?
Perfumes, smelling perfumes.
One of my perfume friends has abig strawberry scent obsession
and she just sent me a box ofscent mail with a couple of
bottles of perfume and also abunch of samples of some of her
(10:10):
favorite strawberry scents, andthat's what's making me happy
lately.
I'll talk to you next week.
Hi darlings.
It's been a while, micah.
Here I'm a little bit out ofpractice, but what are we going
to do?
Get back into it.
It's a new year, 2025.
It's January the 10th and I'mnot having the usual enthusiasm
about starting a fresh year,probably because the state is
(00:58):
burning, california is burning,you know who's about to become
president and things feeluncertain.
But what we really got to do isstay present, certain, but what
we really got to do is staypresent, love the people we love
, do the things that make usfeel good and support each other
and support artists, feelourselves in ways that are good
(01:18):
for us.
We're going to need thatstrength for whatever is coming
next, and that's where I'm at.
So I want to start this thingback up.
It has been about six monthsand it was a good break.
It was a needed break, and I donot have it in me to upload an
(01:39):
episode every week, as I did thefirst year.
It was a really good exerciseand I was really happy that I
did it, but I do not think I'llhave it in me, but I want to be
here, I want to make episodes.
I love the idea of talking toyou and you listening and I have
some episodes planned withinterviews with really
(02:01):
interesting folks, and I'm sureI have some things to teach you
about tattooing, tattoo culture,share some thoughts of mine
about tattoos and tattoo cultureand also nothing to do with
tattoos at all as well.
I wanted to give you a littleupdate about me.
(02:23):
What's been coming up with mefor the last not so much six
months that's going a little farback but the last couple months
and so the last couple months Iwas healing I finally, after
about 20 years of thinking aboutit, got top surgery and for
those unfamiliar, it is a doublemastectomy done for the sake of
(02:47):
mental and physical comfort.
It is gender related.
It is um for me.
For me, it was elective.
It's not elective for everytrans person out there.
A lot of trans people need tohave these physical
modifications to feel like theywant to be here, like they want
to live.
For me, it was a choice based onfeeling like I, too, deserve
(03:13):
feeling comfortable, but I didnot feel like I couldn't live
without it for me personally,and still I decided to do it.
I decided I didn't need tocompare my desires and wants and
degrees of need to otherpeople's, so I decided to do it
(03:36):
and 20 years ago, when I firstwas thinking about it, I just
never thought that I couldafford it.
Back then, insurance wasn'tcovering the surgery and also I
was working putting togetherless than minimum wage jobs to
pay $500 rent and buy a fewgroceries, and I just didn't
(03:57):
think that I could ever setaside enough money or have
enough money to do this, becausebesides the surgery fees,
there's also the living expensesthat one incurs while healing,
because you cannot work for Iwould say, at least a month, but
more like six weeks.
Yeah, it's taken me a long timeto get to this place where I
(04:20):
could feel like I could actuallymake it work logistically.
And here we are.
I'm on the other side of that.
I'm back to work.
I'm feeling really good Everyday when I put on my clothes or
put a t-shirt on work.
I'm feeling really good Everyday when I put on my clothes or
put a t-shirt on.
I feel really comfortable.
I love not wearing any type ofbra or layering if I don't want
(04:41):
to.
It just feels so good andliberating and I just feel like
now my body is all mine, likethere's nothing kind of attached
to it.
That's not mine.
It's not that I feel like it'sall perfect now.
You know like I still have mylittle complaints about things,
but overall it just feels moremine.
There's, as I said, nothingextra.
(05:02):
It's like more streamlined.
It's so nice, it's a nicefeeling and I think yeah, I
think my partner said is severaltimes.
She said she's never seen methis happy with my body, and
that's it's a nice observationto receive from someone who has
been with me for the last sixyears and has seen me struggle
(05:23):
in different ways.
A couple months before that, Iwas getting ready for the couple
months that came after I did alittle fundraiser.
I felt really loved by thesupport I received and the money
(05:43):
people gave me and the foodpeople brought me and the lovely
messages checking in on me.
It felt really good.
I tried to work as much as Icould leading up to it to also
save up a little bit more money.
And then I had my surgery andyou know I was so nervous about
the surgery part and that day,yes, I was so nervous, but it
was sort of the easiest maybeday because we arrived early in
(06:08):
the morning.
I think we arrived at like 6.30, 6 o'clock or 6.30.
And I felt very calm goingthere and my partner was able to
come in with me and be with meuntil they wheeled me away into
the operating room and they, youknow, ask you a bunch of
questions and there's the finalconversation with the surgeon.
But they also gave me Valium tohelp me with my nerves and so
(06:33):
by the time I was talking to thesurgeon it had started to kick
in and I was just like reallyhappy and just being like, just
make it look good, it's all good.
Good thing.
He knew what I wanted.
We had discussed it before, theValium on board.
I was happy and it all happenedand it was really fast and I
(06:54):
did not wake up in the middle ofsurgery like so many of us are
afraid would happen.
And then it was over.
I think that, yeah, we got therebefore 7 am and I think that I
think Liz picked me up around 11.
So 7 to 11.
It was really fast.
And then she took me home andon the way home I was in pain
(07:17):
but I also got some drugs whenwe got home and then the pain
went away and then I just didn'treally feel a lot of pain after
that.
That was kind of the only timeI was feeling badly, so, pin
wise, everything was prettysmooth.
You know it's uncomfortable,not really a lot of pain.
The hardest part was probablynot being able to do much and
(07:38):
having having to ask people tohelp me and just, uh, feeling
frustrated when people couldn'tread my mind.
And sleeping on my back,although I did get one of those
pregnancy pillows If you'regoing to get the surgery, I
think this is a really reallyawesome piece of equipment that
(08:01):
you need.
I actually didn't use any otherspecial equipment besides this
pregnancy pillow.
Sleeping with it kind of curledaround you, you just kind of
feel cocooned and you can't rolland your arms feel really
comfortable.
So I recommend.
So that's kind of what I'vebeen up to.
I also read a lot of books thispast year and I'm going to be
putting out an episode about allthe books that I read.
(08:23):
This will be the next episodecoming up next week.
And I also have been reallyobsessively getting into perfume
.
I mean I've always been intoperfume.
Um, getting into perfume, Imean I've always been into
perfume, but I sort of fell awayfor a few years because I just
felt like nobody around me wasinto it and I just thought I
(08:43):
would be annoying to peoplearound me with my perfume and
then I just decided that Iwanted to smell my samples again
and I pulled them out, startedsmelling.
I somehow got onto a perfumetalk on TikTok and it just
fueled my obsession.
It's looking at notes, orderingsamples, smelling things,
(09:05):
testing things, talking aboutperfumes, listening to people
talk about perfumes.
It's been the other thing I'vebeen busy with while I've been
healing and I've also beenmaking stickers.
I made a bunch of new stickersfor folks who donated money to
my healing fund and I'm now busygiving out the stickers and
(09:27):
some other things I made forthose folks.
That's kind of where I'm at.
That's what I've been doing.
Thank you for listening.
Kind of where I'm at, that'swhat I've been doing.
Thank you for listening.
I appreciate you still beinghere, or being here again or
being new.
It's good.
It feels good to be back.
May this year bring us manymore joys that are unexpected
(09:48):
and if you're anywhere near LA,stay safe.
What's the thing that's beenmaking me happy lately?
Perfumes, smelling perfumes.
One of my perfume friends has abig strawberry scent obsession
and she just sent me a box ofscent mail with a couple of
bottles of perfume and also abunch of samples of some of her
(10:10):
favorite strawberry scents, andthat's what's making me happy
lately.
I'll talk to you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.