Histopathology day

Today is actuali the 3rd day of my PM prac, but since all we've been doing since early tis morning are all related to histopath.. so theregoes my title.. ;)

Histopathology is the field where you study the cellular components of a sick tissue under the microscope.. but in order to make the tissue look-able under the microscope, it must go through a very long process... which takes more than 5 days! Naaa.. this is wat we learned.. first..

1. u've gotta fix the tissue ( using alcohol, formalin, etc.. even salt.. hmm.. but tat's not quite practical...).. so wat we do is to immerse the tissue in the solution, this wil require at least 24 hours.. the next step is..
   
2. to process the tissue, which involves dehydrating the tissue, then clear it, then impregnate the tissue with wax and finali embedding the tissue with wax. wow... all these can actuali be done using a single machine, called... THE processing machine, haha... actuali i dun remember the name, but gues wat? it costs more than RM100000!!!! hmmm... can actuali buy a low cost house liao.. anyway.. the embedding is done using a separate machine, a special machine which is made of 2 sides, on the right is the HOT and on the left is the COLD (freezing cold.. ) so you can see the magic of physics with ur very naked eyes.. how the molten wax transform to "candle" in a matter of seconds!
3. after tis we simply cut the wax+tissue with a super sharp bladed machine - called the microtome (trust me, tis time) coz there is no other name for it. ;) then put the micron-thin film of tissue onto a slide, stain it.. and ta tanggg.... it's ready for the microscope!

Next my Pathology lecturer Dr Hair "trained" us how to look for lesions (abnormal structures in the tissues) under the microscope. YOu wouldn't have believed this.. we've been sTrAiNinG our poor little eyes with the microscope, looking at the same 6 slides yesterday TRYING HARD TO OBSERVE, NOTICE, SEE, LOOK, VIEW, or whichever term u like.. we tried.. real hard.. for hours.. yet.. our effort was all in vain. sigh..

the ironic thing is.. with Dr Hair's guide today, we managed to see the lesions in less than 30 minutes! gosh... now i've learned... how important is certain individual in ur life.. without them.. u may just go round n round in circles.. as though you're blind-cuffed on a roundabout. (hey, hinting somthing here.. catch it if u can, leave it if u dun, haha)

SO.. lesson of the day.... appreciate everything u hav while they're stil there... ;)