How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #4
Her doctors tried in vain to ease her suffering. "Demerol does not seem to touch the pain," one wrote, so he tried morphine. "This doesn't help too much either." He gave her Dromoran. "This stuff works," he wrote. "But not for long." (66)
Just in case you didn't fully understand the extent of Henrietta's suffering, this says it all. Even the strongest narcotic pain medications used today can't touch the pain. These notes by her physician reflect not just Henrietta's level of pain—which is tremendous—but also the desperation of her doctors to find something that will work. Henrietta's autopsy shows her body totally invaded by tumors, which account for the excruciating pain.
Quote #5
"That there's a memory I'll take to my grave," [Emmett] told me years later. "When them pains hit, looked like her mind just said, Henrietta, you best leave. She was sick like I never seen." (85)
Cousin Emmett's recollection of Henrietta in the final stages of her illness makes death seem like a better option or her. Her severe pain was causing her to have seizures. Ironically, it's the aggressive nature of those cancer cells that make them thrive in the lab.
Quote #6
Sometimes she would beat Joe for no reason while he lay in bed or sat at the dinner table. She'd hit him with her fists, or whatever she had close: shoes, chairs, sticks. She made him stand in a dark basement corner on one foot, nose pressed to the wall, dirt filling his eyes. (112)
The loss of their mother affects the Lacks children in ways that the physicians at Hopkins could never have predicted. When Ethel takes over the household, she gets free rein to take her anger out on the kids. Without their mom there to protect them, this predator wreaks havoc on baby Joe, who would face a lifetime of anger, violence and homelessness as a result of Ethel's abuse.