Still exploring cultures

Marilyn Fong has observed countless cultures in her life.

Not through travel, by reading books or watching films, but up close, by looking through a microscope.

Fong is a cytologist, a biologist who studies the functions and behaviors of cells and sometimes makes recommendations as to the causes for abnormalities in those cells.

For 35 years the 61-year-old Glendale resident has been analyzing cultures and samples from biopsies and body fluids.

Now she volunteers two days a week at Glendale Adventist Medical Center in the pathology lab and the medical library.

Like the medical journal depository she files for, Fong is a wealth of biological knowledge.

News-Press News Assistant Rachel Kane sat down with Fong in the pathology unit at Glendale Adventist and asked her some questions.

What exactly does a cytologist do?

"Mainly screen pap smears and body fluids. The general feeling is that when you say pap smear you're talking about women. But anything that is smeared on a slide and stained with a papanicolaou is called a pap smear. A radiologist extracts the cells with his needle. He hands us the syringe. We stain and process."

What excites you about cells?

"Not much anymore. I'm really tired. But that's why volunteering is so good because I don't have to do it. I've been doing it such a long time it's like looking into binoculars all day long."

What do a cell clusters look like?

"Flowered wallpaper. And small flowers. And you're looking for abnormalities in each flower."

Like breaks in the pattern?

"Yes. Actually, cancer is a proliferation of cells. They go wild so they stick together. It's an abnormal proliferation of cells."

You also work in the hospital's medical library. What appeals to you about that?

"Actually I like that because, I don't know, it's peaceful down there.

There's nobody that's saying, 'When are you going to be done with that?' or 'What are you doing?' And the librarian is very nice. I like the librarian."

Why have you kept on with your cell work?

"I guess it's the feeling of being helpful whereas if you worked at a bank and pushed papers a lot there's not enough satisfaction in that.

Although, I wouldn't mind handling money. But there's not enough satisfaction. Just making a difference I guess."