Tumors

[Rough Draft]

This is the Mythology of the Tumors of Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes the First. Eventually I will add more text to this and develop the mythology. For now below are pictures from 3 different surgeries that Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes the First underwent and survived each one. All of the surgeries were done by Dr. Greg Mertz, who is a really awesome person, at the New England Wildlife Center. Female rats, especially those that are not spayed and perhaps especially for those that have the weak genetics of lab rats are extremely susceptible to developing mammary tumors. The mammary tissue stretched across the entire underside and even curls up near their shoulders. In total, we took out 8 tumors across 3 surgeries and there were still more imbedded in her on the day she died. Her sister, Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes The Third, had one when she died.

First she was placed in a box and anesthetic was used to knock her out. Once she was unconscious the anesthetic was administered through a tube.

Then, the fur above the tumor was shaved and the skin was sanitized. Afterwards a razor was used to make a small incision.

Mammary tumors exist close to the skin and the tumors were pull through the small incision. If the tumor was small, it could almost be torn right out. Once the tumor was removed, the wound was sutured. In later surgeries we also added staples because Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes the First would often chew open the sutures.

Here is a picture from the last surgery (she survived). This picture is so intense because she looks so deflated and dead and yet she is alive right at the threshold of death. On the other side of the line (which I did not make) made by tweezers and an instrument to burn bleeding blood vessels are the extracted tumors.

After the surgery my brother and sister cradle Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes the First as she slowly wakes up.

I added all the tumors that were removed over the span of about a year by photoshopping them together. When the tumors were extracted, I felt hatred and anger at the tumors because they had caused my daughter so much pain and had taken away her exhuberance. However, my science training teaches me that beauty can be found nearly everywhere. So, I wanted to give meaning to her pain and suffering. I saved the tumors in a perservative.

My twin, Nate M. (we share the same birthday of July 8 and are 8 years apart in age and we started the neuroscience grad program at Brandeis in the same year), graciously spent hours of his time to help me make something beautiful from the tumors. First he cut a small piece from the tumor and then glued it onto a plate that vibrated. Then he was able to cut a very thin slice of tumor which he stained with DAPI which florescently marks the DNA, which is pictured below. Look how beautiful it is...like a night sky.

This image was displayed during the Cambridge Science Festival for a Science-Art Exhibit

Below, in collaboration with Ian Roy, we 3D scanned the tumor of Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes The First. Click on the image, which will send you to a site where you can explore, in 3D the tumor.

TheTumorOfHerRoyalHighnessPrincessHerpesTheFirst - Download Free 3D model by BrandeisMakerLab (@BrandeisMakerLab)“I saved two sacrificial rats and made them my daughters. One day, like many other female rats, she developed a mammary tumor. It grew large and consumed her happiness and left her mostly immobile. So I brought her to the vet, who tore the tumor out. As I looked at it, I felt anger and disgust…but then I thought, why not give it some meaning and purpose. Why not give all of those days of suffering some value. So, I stored the tumor in formalin, preserving it. A smaller tumor was also extracted which one of my friends helped me slice and fluorescently stain....that became an art piece. A wonderful friend, Ian Roy, 3D scanned the tumor and produced this beautiful electronic object. Eventually this tumor will go into a Unity-based videogame. Everyone is free to download this tumor and turn it into beautiful artwork. HerRoyalHighnessPrincessHerpesTheFirst still lives and has developed another mammary tumor. Her sister, HerRoyalMajestyQueenHerpesTheThird sadly passed away recently. “ - Vivekanand Pandey Vimal - TheTumorOfHerRoyalHighnessPrincessHerpesTheFirst - Download Free 3D model by BrandeisMakerLab (@BrandeisMakerLab)

I also did a Coronation Ceremony for Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes The First and a Death Ceremony for Her Royal Majesty Queen Herpes the Third.