13th day

I had a histology lab in the morning. We were supposed to be prepared for the presentations of the slides and I accidentally studied the wrong slides. I literally studied what I could in 5 mins and presented that for 30 mins. I presented 6 slides with on-the-spot improvisation. Each slide I was looking at for the first time. Without knowing what tissue I am looking at or reading the background about it, I presented what I could see on the slide in terms of the cellular characteristics and I did well. Histology seems to be the most challenging subject this term because of the subjectiveness of these pictures. There were times when we had questions in which the professor could not answer and then the professor invited other professors to discuss the question and then they agreed upon an answer. It's like looking at an X-ray scan that is highly distorted and then trying to figure out what it is. In real life, they would just take another tissue sample and put it in a light microscope.

Apparently, our group was lagging behind because all of the questions (I was partly responsible). Because of this, the main professor came to our table and went over all the slides and clinical questions with us in speed mode. There was a question about what can happen if the cilia in the lungs do not move. Since I forgot to pre-read the lab, I did not know what was written on the slide as the answer, but from my common knowledge, the first answer that came to mind was  - Cystic Fibrosis. The professor said no and that CF is due to other factors. The answer was bronchiectasis not to be confused with bronchitis.

This bugged me for a while, so after class I looked it up. The condition of damaged cilia is known as bronchiectasis, but CF can cause of the impaired cilia. CF is due to a genetic effect that blocks the CFTR channel which is responsible for exchanging bicarbonTe and chloride. When this channel doesn't work, the mucus in the lungs becomes sticky and dry, so the cilia is unable to move it leading to impaired cilia. So CF is the cause and bronchiectasis is the effect. Then, can a patient with CF also have bronchiectasis? Yes, yes they can. This is the answer I would've appreciated from the professor, but instead they just said CF is completely different. CF is NOT completely different and does relate to damaged cilia. Oh well.

After lecture, I went back home only to find out that I could no longer use the wireless from downstairs. Therefore, I went back to campus. While I was walking, it started raining (yay me). I also had my umbrella in my locker, so I quickly ran to a place where I could have some shelter. There, I waited for the bus to take me to campus.