The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Part 1)

Part one of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot introduces to the reader the personal life of Henrietta as well as the historical difficulties faced by African American women in medical settings. Henrietta began having children at the age of fourteen and had multiple children, some born at home without any medical attention. Having many children at a young age is a factor that would already put Henrietta at risk for health issues. She lived during the era of  Jim Crow “...when black people showed up at white-only hospitals, the staff was likely to send them away, even if it meant they might die in the parking lot” (Skloot 37). African Americans were also still facing medical prejudices and were viewed as diseased. When Henrietta began bleeding, and recognized that she had an unusual lump on her cervix, she went to her local doctor who “...took one look inside her, saw the lump, and figured it was a sore from syphilis”, and only referred Henrietta to Johns Hopkins gynecology clinic once her syphilis test came back negative (Skloot 36). The possibility of Henrietta developing cancer, was not mentioned by medical professionals, even though she experienced “unexplained vaginal bleeding and blood in [her] urine during [her] last two pregnancies”, as well as having tests that showed “...areas of increased cellular activity in the cervix” (Skloot 38). Henrietta could have found out about her cancer sooner had she come back for follow up exams, but she felt that “...walking into Hopkins was like entering a foreign country where she didn’t speak the language” (Skloot 39). Medical terms such as biopsy were never explained to her. When Henrietta was finally being treated for cancer, there was still debate over which was the correct method. She was treated with radium, which kills not only cancer cells, but all cells. Aside from being treated for cancer in an ineffective way, Henrietta was also unaware that Dr. TeLinde used her as a donor to study cancerous cervical cells. Although Henrietta did not survive her battle with cancer, her cells are still living, and so is the strong argument that TeLinde should have never taken her cells without her permission.