Destiny Pina: HeLa by Destiny PinaVargas

Chapter 1 Henrietta's treatment

4511862 — 2025-05-05 06:48:19 UTC

Hopkins served black patients only.

Difficulties Henrietta faced when attempting to receive treatment were Hopkins was a very far hospital, Henrietta didn't understand 'hospital language', and

Henrietta's life

4511862 — 2025-05-05 06:53:48 UTC

Henrietta lived with her grandfather and shared a room with her cousin Day, and they married when she was 14.

She attended school up to 6th grade.

Henrietta started having children very young.

Invasive and Non-invasive cancers

4511862 — 2025-05-05 06:57:30 UTC

The difference between non-invasive and invasive cancer is that invasive cancers aren't supposed to be in your body, while non-invasive cancers aren't foreign to the body.

it's important to know the difference because then you can treat it accordingly.

It was soeasy for Dr. Gey to get Henrietta's cells because she signed a contract and she didn't understand the contents of it.

The birth of HeLa

4511862 — 2025-05-05 06:58:27 UTC

Margaret's role was to sterilize equipment and supervise, making sure everything is done in a clean manner. She also trained assistants.

Mary's role was to sterilize the cells and put them in the test tubes. Cutting the samples and putting them in the incubator.

Henrietta and Elsie

4511862 — 2025-05-05 06:59:03 UTC

Henrietta:

Henrietta struggled immensely transporting herself from and to the hospital at night
She started receiving regular radiation treatments
Due to the treatments, she became infertile, but Henrietta did not find out about this until it was too late
She started experiencing negative symptoms overtime, like fatigue, weakness,

Elsie:

She didn't talk and stared a lot

Elsie was taken to churches to be "healed"
She was sent away because she was 'too big' for Henrietta to manage
Elsie had a very strong connection to her mother, Henrietta
Henrietta would visit Elsie at the hospital at least once a week

The hospital for the negro insane: Elsie

4511862 — 2025-05-05 06:59:44 UTC

The hospital was incredibly overcrowded and underfunded
Another reason for many patients in the hospital dying was understaffing.
While Elsie was in the hospital, unethical studies were performed on patients, specifically black ones.
Elsie had untreated syphilis, and she was vomiting blood for 6 months
There was a photo of Elsie where she was beaten up and in a bad state, with her head in a weird position
Elsie died very young at the age of 15

Dr. Carrell

4511862 — 2025-05-05 07:00:40 UTC

Dr Carrell did not have good intentions with the HeLa cells. He was taking advantage of them for his idea of eugenics. He saw white people as the superior race and the sterilization of the poor and non-white population.

Henrietta's Death

4511862 — 2025-05-05 07:02:38 UTC

Henrietta did not have a 'good' death. Although she was surrounded by loved ones, she suffered immense pain. She also struggled emotionally, spending time away from her kids, worried about who was going to care for them when she's gone. Her family suffered as well, and no one truly knew what she was going through.

Henrietta's children

4511862 — 2025-05-05 07:03:25 UTC

Lawrence:

Lawrence was drafted at the age of 16 because he had made a fake ID. Lawrence moved in with Bobbette, and later the children moved in with them as well because of Ethel's abuse.

Joe:

Joe was in Ethel's care. They had to work in tobacco fields all day, with minimal food and water. Ethel targeted Joe, always hitting him unprovoked. It was so bad that Joe got used to the pain, and he filled with rage instead.

Deborah:

Deborah was terrorized by Galen. He would touch her inappropriately, and no one believed her. She would put up with it because Galen would coerce her with gifts. Bobbette eventually found out and scolded Galen, helping Deborah.

Southam's experiments

4511862 — 2025-05-05 07:05:42 UTC

Southam's experiments involved prisoners getting injected with HeLa cells, intending to see if cancer would develop.

This was very unethical because patients were vaguely informed about what they were being injected with.

John Hopkins Hospital

4511862 — 2025-05-12 18:30:29 UTC

He said only patients who can afford it should be charged, and money that goes to the hospital should be used to help those who can't pay.

The lead study stopped when a suit was filed against it, claiming it violated the boy's civil rights, but it continued months later with consent forms. Later, the Department of Health and Human Services investigated and decided the study did not provide forms with adequate information.