Editing 933: Tattoo
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | An {{w| | + | {{incomplete|The title text isn't explained, and I want to know if it could actually kill a horse.}} |
+ | An {{w|Oncologist}} is a doctor who specializes in the treatment of {{w|cancer}}. This comic is certainly related to the {{w|breast cancer}} issue that [[Randall]] is going through with his fiancé. [[Megan]] in this comic has a {{w|tattoo}} for the alignment lasers of the radiotherapy machine which will fire a beam of radiation with sufficient intensity to kill the cells in the targeted area. A common such machine is a linear accelerator or "Linac" which accelerates electrons to very high speed, these can then either be used to generate high energy Xrays to treat the patient, or the electron beam itself can be used (both are types of radiation). Commonly when radiotherapy is used as part of breast cancer treatment some combination of both is prescribed. In order to allow healthy tissue to recover better, rather than deliver all the radiation in one go, the treatment is delivered a little bit each day over the course of about a month. It is therefore vital that the radiation can be delivered to the correct target area day after day, and this is done by lining up the alignment lasers of the linac with the skin markers - that is Megan's tattoo dots. It may not be considered a "traditional" tattoo (because it says it was done by her Oncologist and not in a tattoo parlor). | ||
− | In the last frame, it is mentioned that [[Cueball]] has a barbed wire bicep tattoo, which is common in the US as a tattoo that people get when they want to seem tough, even if they aren't tough already. | + | In the last frame, it is mentioned that [[Cueball]] has a barbed wire biceps (the comic erroneously says "bicep" which is not a word, the s is part of the originally latin word, not a plural s) tattoo, which is common in the US as a tattoo that people get when they want to seem tough, even if they aren't tough already. |
− | The joke in the comic is that Cueball got this barbed wire tattoo to look tough, but it pales in comparison to the tattoo from (or for) the cancer removal or treatment. It is kind of funny because Cueball has his whole shirt off just to show a biceps tattoo. | + | The joke in the comic is that Cueball got this barbed wire tattoo to look tough, but it pales in comparison to the tattoo from (or for) the cancer removal or treatment. This is ironic because people who get barbed wire tattoos believe themselves to be tough. It is kind of funny because Cueball has his whole shirt off just to show a biceps tattoo. |
− | The title text | + | The title text mixes up two different types of {{w|radioactivity}} – {{w|Beta radiation}} ({{w|electrons}}) and {{w|Gamma radiation}}. The electrons from the beta radiation only do harm the skin, just because it doesn't move at 99.8% of the speed of light. But the gamma radiation can reach every point at the inner body. If this is not focussed to the location where the cancer is it could kill the individual or even a horse. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
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[[Category:Cancer]] | [[Category:Cancer]] | ||
[[Category:Physics]] | [[Category:Physics]] |