Answer the following discussion questions, citing specific details from the passage.
Chapter 1: What does this chapter suggest to you about Henrietta Lacks' ability to understand and make informed decisions about her treatment at the clinic?
Chapter 2: What are your thoughts about the employment opportunities for black men at Sparrows Point?
Chapter 3: Read the Operation Permit that Henrietta signed. Do you think it gave the hospital the right to take tissue from Henrietta for research purposes? Do you think Henrietta was able to understand what she was signing?
Chapter 4: Why did Dr. Gey give samples of the HeLa cells to his colleagues?
Chapter 5: Why was Henrietta surprised tolearn that she could not have children? Do you think she was not told, that she didn't understand what she had been told, or that she had forgotten?
Chapter 6: Why do you think Deborah's attitude changed so much from the first phone call to the second?
1. This chapter suggests that Henrietta lacked the ability to fully understand her ailments and make sound decisions about treatments at the clinic. During that time, most doctors did not explain medical terminology to their patients, especially African Americans. They stated that this was so they do not confuse them with complex words. However, because of this, many African Americans,were uneducated about their own conditions. Henrietta had a list of conditions she had declined treatment for, not because she was fond of the ailment, but because she most likely did not understand the severity of her conditions. As Skloot states, Henrietta only knew about harvesting tobacco and butchering. She hardly read or wrote and did not study science in school. With doctors withholding information and Henrietta’s lack of knowledge, it does not come as a surprise that she was not able to fully understand and make informed decisions at the clinic.
ReplyDelete2. In a time where blacks were predominately poor, Sparrows Point offered black men a way to make more money than they would living on their farms. It gave them an opportunity to find a better life for their family during that time. However, It would be a huge leap to say that the employment opportunities gave nothing but hope for a better life. Often times, the jobs that black men would take were the jobs that white men refused to take. With time, black men could move up to the boiler room. They spent most of their days breathing in toxic coal dust and asbestos, which they brought home to their family. Although the book does not explore this, it is highly likely that many of these men and their families contracted fatal diseases in their later years. Sparrows Point gave black men opportunities for a better life; however it came at the cost of their future health. Perhaps Day worked in the boiler room and exposed asbestos to his family causing their later health problems.
3. The permit gave the hospital the right to do anything that they deemed necessary in order to treat Henrietta. Taking tissue from her for research falls under that category; if a cure was found as a result of that research, it could be used to cure Henrietta. However, they should not have withheld the information that they took a tissue sample from her. I believe Henrietta understood what she was signing to an extent. She understood that she was in pain and the only method the doctors suggested to get rid of the pain was a surgery. And the only way the surgery could happen was if she signed the operational permit. Skloot does not say anything about the extent of her reading and comprehension level; however we know that Henrietta went as far as the sixth or seventh grade and that she did not understand the “language” spoken in hospitals. It is very unlikely that Henrietta understood the hidden implications of the operation permit.
4. Dr. Gey gave samples of the HeLa cells to his colleague because he was excited to share his findings. He was excited for what the HeLa cells could do for science and medicine. Furthermore, he most likely wanted to prove that he had, in fact, created the immortal cell.
5. Henrietta loved children and it was very important for to be able to keep having children. With this fact in mind, it was a definite shock to her that she could no longer give birth. Although it was standard procedure to warn cancer patients about fertility loss, no one had told Henrietta beforehand. Had she been told before starting the treatment, Henrietta would not have gone through with the radiation treatment.
6. Because she spoke with the males of her family and they told her not to talk with Rebecca Skloot. She simply said, in order for Skloot to get any information out her, she first had to go through the men of the family.
I appreciate you answering all of the questions! Your answers are very insightful! I agree with you interpretations of the events that transpired in these chapters.
Delete5. I agree with Emmanuel. Henrietta did love children. She valued the fact that she would be able to keep having children. Children were so special to her and she loved the thought of having her own children. I believe it was a great surprise to her when she was told that she wouldn't be able to have anymore children. The patients should be informed before any medical treatment has been performed of any and all pros and cons to the treatments. Henrietta did not know before based on her reaction when she was told about her fertility loss. I believe she would have definitely changed her mind about the treatment if she had known she wouldn't have been able to have any more children.
ReplyDeleteIt was very unethical for the doctors to wait until after the procedure to tell her that she could not have anymore children.
DeleteMacaria Surratt 1. Henrietta Lacks is a housewife mothering five children. The highest level of education she had was to the sixth or seventh grade which shows that she was ignorant of much knowledge to be gained from proceeding with education. Science was a subject that she never studied in school, and she didn’t read or write much. This affected her ability to understand what was going on with her and the severity of it. When a large amount of blood was found in her urine after delivering her fifth child, tests showed that increased cellular activity in the cervix. The physician recommended that she see a specialist about it, but she cancelled the appointment. Considering her level of education, she probably didn’t know how important seeing the specialist about the cellular activity would have been to prevent or remove any cancerous tumors present in her womb. The doctors didn’t explain enough to her of how severe her conditions were, and Henrietta wasn’t familiar with the information that the physicians told her in which affected her ability to make informed decisions at the clinic.
ReplyDeleteHenrietta Lacks is a housewife mothering five children. The highest level of education she had was to the sixth or seventh grade which shows that she was ignorant of much knowledge to be gained from proceeding with education. Science was a subject that she never studied in school, and she didn’t read or write much. This affected her ability to understand what was going on with her and the severity of it. When a large amount of blood was found in her urine after delivering her fifth child, tests showed that increased cellular activity in the cervix. The physician recommended that she see a specialist about it, but she cancelled the appointment. Considering her level of education, she probably didn’t know how important seeing the specialist about the cellular activity would have been to prevent or remove any cancerous tumors present in her womb. The doctors didn’t explain enough to her of how severe her conditions were, and Henrietta wasn’t familiar with the information that the physicians told her in which affected her ability to make informed decisions at the clinic.
ReplyDeleteYes, a lot of her decisions were based on her not having an extensive amount of education.
Delete3. In my opinion the Operation Permit listed on page 31 did NOT give the hospital the right to take Henrietta's tissue for research purposes. The permit only gave the hospital consent to surgically operate on Mrs. Lacks. Research was never stated in the Operation Permit. Mrs. Lacks more than likely had trouble comprehending the permit because of the limited education she receive. However, the Operation Permit gave no consent for research but for operation only.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The doctors probably thought that because she was African American, she would not have understood what they were doing so she was not worth asking.
DeleteKiara Rainer Chapter 6: I believe Deborah's attitude changed from the first phone call to the second because she confronted her family about Rebecca wanting to write a book about her mother and they told her not to approve it. She won't give any information without the entire family approving of it as well. Since they did not approve of it sometime after the first phone call, she had to push Rebecca away by the second phone call.
ReplyDeleteThat is correct. To keep the peace within the family, Deborah wanted to make sure that everyone was okay with Rebecca writing the book. When she found that everyone was not okay with the book being written, Deborah had to do what she thought was best for her family.
DeleteChapter 6: Why do you think Deborah's attitude changed so much from the first phone call to the second?
ReplyDeleteOnce Rebecca finally contacted Deborah, Rebecca mentioned that she wanted to write a book about Henrietta. When Rebecca said that, Deborah was extremely excited and relieved that someone wanted to know more about Henrietta, the person—not HeLa, the caner cells. The day after the telephone call, Deborah had a change of tone when talking to Rebecca. Deborah told Rebecca to go away and that her brothers want Deborah to write her own book. A rationale explanation for a change in Deborah’s demeanor was that when Deborah spoke to her brothers about someone wanting to write a book about Henrietta, her brothers may have taken the idea of someone (outside of the family) wanting to know more about Henrietta as a scam; and just another outsider wanting to take advantage of the family using their knowledge about Henrietta as another advancement for science.
Yes, Deborah's brothers gave her a different perspective of what Rebecca could possibly be doing with their family's information.
Delete4. Gey gave samples of HeLa cells to his collegues because he was excited about Henrietta's cells and how fast that they were growing. Previously in an earlier chapter, it stated, "the Geys were DETERMINED to grow the first immortal human cells. The Geys wanted to grow the human equivalent- they didnt care what kind of tissue they used, as long as it came from a person. Gey took any cells he could get his hands on..." He would go to any lengths in order to do what he had to do. While excited Gey called a few of his closest colleagues and told them, that he thought his lab might have grown the first immortal human cells. Being that he shared this information with his colleagues, in turn, he wanted to prove to them what he did, so he gave them samples when they asked could they have some.
ReplyDelete5. Henrietta was surprised to learn that she could not have children because she was not told before hand, before the treatment. I do not think that she was told. I think that the doctors knew that if they told Henrietta what the treatment would do before hand, she would have not agreed to it, but it was the best thing for her to do.It was a procedure for the hospital to inform the patients and let them know what happens during the treatments and operations and so forth, but they did not do that in this case.
4. Exactly! Dr. Gey wanted to prove a point. He wanted to go down in history for finding the immortal cell.
Delete5. You are correct. The procedure is what the doctors thought was the best thing for her and that may be a reason that they didn't tell her. Maybe they knew she would have denied the procedure.
Chapter 4: Why did Dr. Gey give samples of the HeLa cells to his colleagues? Marry was in charge of culturing Henrietta's cells. In the process she noticed that Henrietta's cells were growing at a rapid pace. The book quotes, "Henrietta's cells weren't merely surviving, they were growing with mythological intensity". The cells doubled in numbers every 24 hours. It was the when Gey told his colleague that he may have found immortal cells, and they wanted them so he said yes. I believe he said yes because he wanted everyone one to have access to them for testing.
ReplyDeleteYes, one of the reasons Dr. Gey gave the cells to others was because he knew they would be necessary for groundbreaking research. He also wanted to be noted as "The One" who found the immortal cells.
Delete5. Why was Henrietta surprised to learn that she could not have children? Do you think she was not told, that she didn't understand what she had been told, or that she had forgotten?
ReplyDeleteHenrietta was surprised because the doctor never told her about the side effects of the treatment. On page 47, Skloot states “Until that moment, Henrietta didn’t know that the treatments had left her infertile.” By reading about Henrietta’s love for children, it was CERTAINLY devastating for her to know that she would not be able to bear a child again. If the doctor had told her about the undesirable effects of the treatment, I believe she would not have forgotten such an important fact. The doctor was supposed to explain the complications (fertility loss) clearly to the patient (Henrietta) before carrying out the treatment. If Henrietta had been told, she would not have gone through with the radiation treatment.
I agree that Henrietta had not been told. The doctor's actions were not very ethical at all.
DeleteChapter 5: Why was Henrietta surprised to learn that she could not have children? Do you think she was not told, that she didn't understand what she had been told, or that she had forgotten?
ReplyDeletePer Howard Jones and TeLinde, the hospital warned patients about fertility loss before proceeding on with cancer treatments. However, in Henrietta's medical record the doctor states "Told she could not have any more children. Says if she had been told so before, she would not have gone through with treatment." As we can see here, Henrietta was notified after the cancer treatment was commenced. Henrietta did not know that such a procedure would result in fertility loss.
I agree that Henrietta was probably not told that she would be infertile after the procedure. One reason that she was not told could be because the doctors knew that after hearing that information, she would deny treatment once again. Another reason for the doctors not telling her that she would not be able to have children could've been because they didn't think she was worth telling that piece of vital information to.
DeleteChapter 1. What does this chapter suggest to you about Henrietta Lack's ability to understand and make informed decisions about her treatment at the clinic?
ReplyDeleteHenrietta obviously made poor decisions, canceling or failing to attend treatment appointments for syphilis and gonorrhea. Had she completed all recommended treatments, she might not have set the stage for the "perfect storm" of cancerous destruction. That being said, we can only guess if she was adequately informed, in a manner that was appropriate and understandable to her, of the urgency of her situation. At that point in time, it was often true that African Americans were expected to do what they were told without explanation. Perhaps she was treated as if she wouldn't understand anyway, so there wasn't any point in trying to explain. Or, that because she was being treated for free, they did not owe her any clarification. It is possible that a poor uneducated black woman was seen as not worth the time and trouble it would take to make sure she understood.
Chapter 4. Why did Dr. Gey give samples of the HeLa cells to his colleagues?
Dr. Gey's Everest was making living and growing human cell cultures possible, viable, and portable. As his goal was not to use them himself for any particular research of his own, his achievement would have been worthless if he had kept them to himself. He had his win, and no one else would ever be the first to accomplish what he did. Sharing them also ensured that HeLa cells were not seen as another "chicken heart."
Gey's expertise was in tissue culture research. He was not an oncologist or an epidemiologist. He knew that these cells were needed for many avenues of study in those fields and others. Given the sacrifices he made in order to achieve his goal, it seems likely that he wanted his work to make the impossible possible in the advancement of medicine.
Chapter 1: Yes, it was the norm then for doctors to not think that African American patients were worth explaining things to.
DeleteChapter 4: I, also, think Dr. Gey gave the samples of the HeLa cells to his colleagues moreso for selfish reasons. He wanted to be right about his theories, he didn't want all of his hard work to be in vain, and he wanted the recognition.
1. At that particular time it was normal and common for then to do that, but however should have explained
ReplyDelete1. What does this chapter suggest to you about Henrietta Lacks' ability to understand and make informed decisions about her treatment at the clinic?
ReplyDeleteBecause of the time period and Henrietta being black, it was extremely difficult for Henrietta to make informed decisions regarding her health. Henrietta knew that there was something more wrong with her other than her just being pregnant. However, she could not question a Doctor. During the era in which Henrietta lived in Doctors were not be questioned especially considering her ethnicity.
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