v. trans·plant·ed, trans·plant·ing, trans·plants
v. tr.
1 To uproot and replant (a growing plant).
2 To transfer from one place or residence to another; resettle or relocate.
3 Medicine. To transfer (tissue or an organ) from one body or body part to another.
v. intr.
To be capable of undergoing transplantation.
n. (trnsplnt)
1 The act or process of transplanting.
2 Something transplanted.
3 Medicine. An operation in which tissue or an organ is transplanted: undergo a heart transplant; surgical transplant of a cornea
This image is from my CT scans of my largest tumor. I started from this photo because it gave me measurements to follow. I took the outline shape from this section and each image above and below and transferred them to tissue paper. I used these tracings to transfer the shapes to clay and layered them creating an object that would closely resemble what my tumor would look like were it outside my body. The image on the right gives a better idea of the shape taken from this section.
This plaster cast is the final product. I use this solid interpretation of my tumor to aid my treatments using visualization therapy.
I used visualization therapy to enhance the effects of medicine upon my body. Many people choose to create an image that represents the "good cells" that destroy disease and one that represents the cancer or "bad cells". During my first round of treatments, I tried using this method, but found myself constantly changing each of my representations in search for the one I thought would be most effective. I wanted to see what this cancer looked like, how it felt in my hand. I became able to picture my tumor (using the model as a visual guide) being destroyed as the medicine moved through my body.
I often wonder if I am the only patient that finds interest in confronting their illness in a physical manner such as this. I have found it invaluable knowing what I am facing. I have given my mind a boundary, no longer letting my imagination create fear by reinventing and inflating an image each time I hear the word cancer.