From: "Van Bockstaele, Dirk" <Dirk.Van.Bockstaele@uza.uia.ac.be> To: cyto-inbox Subject: RE: dumb questions Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 11:43:05 +0200 Hi Maryalice (and others engaged in this discussion), I'm back from holiday and realise that there has been some discussion about my remark "not long in the business I guess". Off course this was not ment to be offensive!! I get this type of questions from my students practically every day and I give them the same type of answer, but off course, then you can look them in their face so that they see that your smiling while your tapping on their shoulder. Please keep in mind that e-mail is international, maybe we have another sense of humor and are easily misunderstood: after all we have the disadvantage of having to commmunicate in another language than our own: think of all you US/UK people having to use french, german or dutch to respond to messages! And the question was certainly a good one: the evaluation of kappa/lambda on B-cells is perhaps the most important test in rapid screening for clonal B-populations in B-NHL patients: it should thus be carried out with the greatest scrutiny! Dirk Dirk Van Bockstaele Laboratory of Hematology Head Flow Cytometry Unit Antwerp University Hospital Belgium tel. 32 3 821 3900, fax 32 3 825 1148, e-mail dirk.van.bockstaele@uza.uia.ac.be > ---------- > Van: Maryalice Stetler-Stevenson[SMTP:stetler@box-s.nih.gov] > Verzonden: vrijdag 23 juli 1999 16:27 > Aan: Cytometry Mailing List > Onderwerp: dumb questions > > > I have yet to meet someone who never asks dumb questions. I ask my > share and I am proud that I am not afraid to ask a dumb question. At least > I get the needed information when I need it. I don't, however, feel that > the original CLL question was dumb. CLL is difficult to detect > Kappa/lambda > staining. We always use at least 2 different light chain reagents because > sometimes one will give you an answer and the other won't. Of course we > wash the bood but we do a whole blood lysis and we don't incubate the > cells > (we studied this and didn't find it necessary- Cytometry (Communications > in > Clinical Cytometry)26:243-252,1996). However sometimes, no matter what you > do, the light chain staining is so very dim that it is really hard to > detect. I think the discussion on this point was good and I hope all will > feel free to join me in asking dumb questions. We will all learn in the > process. > I like to think that Dirk Van Bockstaele was just kidding and being > cute in his reply "Not long in the business I guess? " and not intending > to > insult. Let's cut him a break too. > > Maryalice > > > I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not > dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde. -Dolly Parton- > Maryalice Stetler-Stevenson > Director Flow Cytometry Unit > Laboratory of Pathology, NCI, NIH > Dear All It seems ironic that the question I asked about CLL should envoke such a wide response, and for the help I do thank all. Dirk I did take offense, but I did not feel it worth to respond to your comment. I am also glad that so many flowers thought your comment was rather ill-humoured, but I do think the whole issue should be put to rest. Unless of cause people have some other interesting discoveries on CLL or Kappa and Lambda. Yours sincerely Sebastian Gelderbloem
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