Tattoo
by Jeff
Image text: I calculate that the electrons in radiation therapy hit you at 99.8% of the speed of light, and the beam used in a 90-second gamma ray therapy session could, if fired with less precision, kill a horse (they did not let me test this).
So, an Oncologist is a cancer doctor. This comic is certainly related to the breast cancer issue that Randall is going through with his fiancee. So, pardon my very simple explanation, but Megan in this comic has a tattoo for aligning the laser for surgery to remove or treat the cancerous tumor inside her. I'm not sure if it is a real tattoo (because it says it was done by her Oncologist) or if it some sort of scarring from the procedure. I am not an expert on this, can some subject matter expert weigh in below? I know you are out there.
In the last frame, Cueball mentions that he has a barbed wire bicep tattoo, which is a stereotypically in the US, a tattoo that people get when they want to seem tough, even if they aren't tough already.
Anyway, the joke in the comic is that Cueball got this barbed wired 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 wired tattoos believe themselves to be tough. It is kind of funny because Cueball has his whole shirt off just to show a bicep tattoo.
Lanes
by Berg
Image text: Each quarter of the lanes from left to right correspond loosely to breast cancer stages one through four (at diagnosis).
In the comments on wednesday it was pointed out that xkcd is a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language- humor isn't necessarily guaranteed. Today's comic, depressing as fuck and just as poignant, underscores that point.
The comic is built around a dialogue between two friends about cancer, presumably cancer that cueball number two's (hereafter Twoball) wife has been diagnosed with. The conversation itself is about as straightforward as a conversation can be. It details the maturation of Twoball's understanding of cancer diagnoses, knowledge which we can presume he has gained, reluctantly, by watching a loved one suffer. It is probably safe to say that either Randall or somebody close to him is currently in Twoball's position, and we, the readers, are the beneficiaries of this new understanding of cancer diagnoses without having to watch somebody close to us suffer. So... thanks, I guess?
The comic's title, Lanes, comes from the two panels which illustrate either end of the spectrum of Twoball's mental representation of how cancer treatment proceeds. In that there are many possible outcomes for cancer treatment, the image of a multi-lane freeway seems an apt metaphor to represent this understanding visually.
In the first freeway diagram, there are several paths, but the system is very simple, and easy to take in. Only a few lanes lead off into the oblivion which surrounds the freeway, a single offramp circles back from the path to survival to treatment, and survival is a visible endpoint.
In the second freeway diagram, however, things are much, much more complex, and much more bleak. Even six years out, survival isn't visible, and many lanes end in oblivion, sometimes not veering off for years after treatment. The image text informs us that this is meant to be loosely representative of breast cancer stages one through four, proceeding by quarters from left to right. It's a grim outlook, hence cueball number one's understated but completely fitting reaction to this plethora of new knowledge:
Fuck cancer.
Positive Attitude
by Jeff
Image text: Having a positive attitude is almost tautologically good for your mental health, and extreme stress can hurt your immune system, but that doesn't mean you should feel like shit for feeling like shit.
This is a reference to the family illness that Randall is currently going through in his personal life.