This reading was very, very interesting to me. Although it was only the first few chapters it became more interesting and spine chilling as I read on. I was very surprised to have read in the later chapters how Henrietta was treated and how the doctors acted back in the 1950s just because of segregation at the time. It really bothered me to read that the doctors would withhold information from their patients because they were to never be questioned especially if the patient was black. Having read that really made me understand how it was back then and that people like Henrietta were lucky that they were even getting treatment.
But this story, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks changed how doctors treated their patients and also changed the way cancer was handled and treated. The main point of this reading I think is that back then; in 1950s doctors didn’t really take things too seriously especially in the segregation era. But, there was one scientist in the story who wanted to help and try to solve the issue of cancer that was becoming such an epidemic no matter what the race was. The doctors wouldn’t really take their jobs seriously it seemed like and would mis-diagnose women patients making them believe they had cervical cancer when they didn’t.
With all the information given in these first few chapters, it is clear that Anderson 2 they wanted to figure out a way to cure this disease and make people more aware of what is going on in the world around them. No matter what life style you grew up in, or what your circumstances are you must always go to the doctors and have a regular checkup just to be sure you’re healthy. In the reading there was a lot of surprising information I came across and seemed very unusual and scary.
Knowing that the doctors used to not tell the patients what was actually diagnosed in their appointment because they didn’t want to “scare or confuse” them really sickened me. That really showed why they had so many mis-diagnosed patients and why a lot of people were getting sick.
Their excuses were that they were lucky they were even being diagnosed in the first place and they shouldn’t even question the doctors. This seemed so wrong to me and not fair at all, in my mind if a person is sick you should take care of them no matter what race or what circumstance it is. After reading these chapters I definitely have a different outlook on the world and take health more seriously.
It’s really sad to know how health issues were dealt with back in the 1900s and how they are handled now. I definitely consider myself lucky and thankful that the people in that time period went through the things they did to help us be more educated in the medical field.
I really opened my eyes knowing that health is more important than we think it is, and it’s scary to think that you can be mis-diagnosed anytime if doctors aren’t absolutely careful. Personally, I feel like what a read was very much needed for me to be informed about the things I didn’t know before. This book is very interesting to me already and this story really opened my eyes to what really went on in that era.
I’m also glad that I have all the resources I Anderson 3 have today about health and disease that they didn’t have back in the 1950s that could have helped them. But knowing that it took one person for them for them to finally realize diseases are real and grow rapidly and they finally were trying to find ways to stop it. Although they can’t completely stop cancer, they still tried to find ways to help Henrietta in the book to get back to health. Although it sounds bad, I think what happened in this era so far in this book was needed for us to be able to have all the resources we have today.