Lunch n Learn, but no Lunch

At work we have the opportunity to go to talks titled Lunch n Learns. These are about an hour long and are on very different subjects and most of the time you bring your lunch and eat for the hour. However, yesterday we had a No Lunch Lunch n Learn, hosted by our Histology group. Histology does some amazing things and very different things, but they also have the hard job of performing autopsies...on children. I was amazed at how much I didn't know about the Histology department and I never knew that they actually talked with the families of the children having the autopsies done. They have a very interesting and hard job that they do 5 days a week.
Well, anyway, the supervisor of histology (Sara) took us down the the 'Pathology Suite' (the morgue) to show us the grieving room for the family where they view the body and also where the autopsies are done. We heard some sad stories with amazing endings and we heard sad stories without amazing endings. They do more than just autopsies, they also take any part that is removed from a still living child and basically disect it for research and for answers on how and where the tumor, cancer, mass, etc. spread. I know this all sounds horribly disgusting and sad but this is the world I live in 5 days a week. I don't have nearly the experience or interaction that histology employees do, but I know about the kids and their test results, if they pass away and I do see them on a daily basis. I also think it is very fascinating and everyday research comes to a new finding, and these kids and their families help that research.
Anyways...I got to see a lot of different things yesterday; an oversized heart from an 11 year old, a fatty tumor mass that was removed (child is still alive) and I also got to hold part of a tumor that was on a child's liver. I know it is sad but I found it interesting and it also helped me to realize all of the opportunities I have at Children's Hospital. I am in a place that I can learn so much about anything I have never known about. It is also amazing the work that we do at Children's Hospital. So often the laboratory is looked over, in all of the departments, for the work that they do. Which is funny because we are the ones who give out the results, rush testing and find out what is wrong with a patient to hopefully start the treatment and help them live. But yet, everyday we are all looked over by the people in the hospital. I don't think that the parents or families overlook us because so often we rush samples for them and they are so grateful, but we never see the recognition that we should. It is sad and histology proved to be one of the hardest jobs in the laboratory to me. I never knew what they did and I have a better understanding and respect for them. I just wanted to share that.