PUBLICATIONS  Inside Illinois    Vol. 27, No. 3, Aug. 2, 2007

On the job: Gigi Simon

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
217-244-1072; slforres@uiuc.edu

Click photo to enlarge Photo by L. Brian Stauffer Gigi Simon

Behind every good doctor is a team of people who help in determining the right diagnosis and treatment. At the UI’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Argelia “Gigi” Simon is one of the histology technologists who work in the diagnostic laboratory preparing tissue samples for analysis.  Simon, who holds an associate’s degree in life science from Parkland College and a technical degree in histotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania, has more than 22 years’ experience in the lab, where she worked from 1969-1980 before leaving to raise her family. Simon returned to the lab in 1995.

How do you prepare samples for viewing under microscopes?

Because the tissues are very soft and are mostly water, the water needs to be removed and the samples supported with another medium. A machine replaces the water in the tissues with various solutions and finally with paraffin. Then we use a special instrument called a microtome to cut the little paraffin blocks of tissue samples 3 micrometers thick – that’s less than a layer of cells – so they’re rendered almost transparent. Next, we affix the samples on glass slides and stain them with contrasting stains:  purple for the cells’ nuclei and orange for the cytoplasm and other structures such as connective tissue. That allows the pathologist to put a sample under the microscope and view the entity causing the animal’s illness.

How many samples do you work with in a day or a week?

Usually, it’s between 100 and 200 samples a day. We’ve ranged from 50 - 300 blocks a day.

The pathologist contacts the veterinarian with his diagnosis and prepares a report describing what he found. Then the report is faxed or mailed to the veterinarian’s office so the doctor can begin treatment.

There are three technologists plus the supervisor in the lab. We feel very proud that we are able to help animals.

What diseases can be diagnosed from the samples?

Cancer, any infectious agent such as mycobacteria and viruses. We do special stains to bring out some of the structures that cannot be seen with the routine stain, and we do immunological stains, which show the body’s immune response to a particular disease. Usually it’s a response to an infectious agent, but the body also shows particular responses to tumors.

What got you interested in this field?

When I left high school, my first job was as a go-fer at Mercy Hospital, now known as Provena Covenant Medical Center, in Urbana. The following summer, I worked at Burnham Hospital in Champaign doing histology. The histologist showed me the cutting and preparation techniques one day, and went on vacation the next day, leaving me alone in the lab for two weeks. By the end of the two weeks, I was like a pro.

When my family later moved to Pennsylvania, I got a job as a clerk-typist in a hospital. I got friendly with the lab technician and would help her out sometimes. I decided that I wanted to develop those skills, and applied for a job in the lab. I loved it.

The work is so interesting, especially when the pathologist comes and says something such as, “I have something in the nuclei of several cells, and I think it’s a viral inclusion body. What do you have to demonstrate (the disease agent)?”

When we finish staining it, put it under the microscope and are the first ones to see what the pathologist is looking for, it’s really cool. I enjoy almost everything I do. I learned a lot the first time I worked here – such as how to identify different microorganisms and how to differentiate them – by asking the pathologists questions and doing research in the library. The pathologists and the graduate students are always willing to teach us things, and they’re very appreciative of the work we do.

It’s challenging being able to answer the questions they ask – and frustrating not knowing where to find the answer. I like to keep working at it until I find the answer.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I like to read a lot – historical novels or whatever captures my attention. There’s a new biography of Albert Einstein out, and that’s next on my list. I like to spend time with my two children when they’re home. My son is finishing his master’s degree in exercise physiology at Eastern Illinois University. My daughter is studying forensic anthropology at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.

Back to Index