July 8, 2006

• I finally get to test real samples at work - official as of yesterday (Friday at 1am).

  
  

   

  
  

  And of course, on my very first set of tests (we test in sets of 91 tubes for HIV and HCV at the same time, with 16 individuals usually being pooled into each of the 91 master pools), I had an "initial reactive" set. That means that a master pool showed up positive (for one of the two viruses, we don't differentiate for the first two test) and therefore, all of the 16 individuals will be retested (again for both HIV and HCV). I had one individual show up as way fucking positive. Although I can't (according to FDA regulations) state that it was HCV positive, from the light levels the test showed, everyone in the lab knew it was clearly HCV.

  
  

   

  
  

  So, my first thought on the matter is that I gave this person HCV. Which I really didn't. I am the person that discovered that they have it. I am the person that will enable them to hopefully get some sort of treatment to minimize the damage and extend their lifespan. But, suddenly, this job is very real. That is blood that could have potentially infected 10 or more people (depending on what they used the blood for) and that is a person's life changed because of my actions. It's weird to have a job that actually makes a difference. And more than slightly freaksome. Going from the academic world of bird DNA to shoe shipping to sandwich making doesn't really give me a basis for dealing with the fact that EVERYTHING that I do at work now is potentially important...

  
  

   

  
  

  At least tonight I didn't kill anyone.

  • 1:45 pm
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