Henrietta's choice not to tell anyone about her cancer diagnosis may have its roots in the time period, her socioeconomic status, her personality, or some combination of all three. According to chapter 1 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in January 1951. When she felt what she described as a "knot" inside her, she consulted with some female cousins, who suggested she go to the doctor. She didn't go at the time and waited a whole year, until after her child was born, to have the lump examined.

The culture of the time period, in which people didn't discuss illnesses like cancer, may have played a part in Henrietta's reluctance to talk about her diagnosis. In chapter 1, Skloot explains that Henrietta and her cousins didn't talk about the lump again because, "In those days, people didn't talk about things like cancer." People were more likely to keep medical diagnoses, especially life-threatening ones, private. A sense of privacy or propriety might have kept Henrietta from revealing her eventual diagnosis.

Henrietta's socioeconomic status may also have contributed to her silence about her cervical cancer diagnosis. Chapter 2 reveals that Henrietta was raised by her grandfather, and no one in her family had much money. They worked hard as tobacco farmers, and the children left school young to help on the farm. In this kind of life, there is not much money for trips to the doctor. Also, in chapter 1, a review of Henrietta's medical records reveals a list of conditions for which she delayed or refused treatment. She may have avoided sharing her diagnosis because she had a lifelong habit of downplaying or ignoring medical problems, sometimes because she couldn't afford to solve them, or to take the needed time from being a mother and working on the farm to take care of her health.

Finally, Henrietta Lacks may have stayed quiet about her cancer diagnosis because it suited her personality or character. As a mother to five children who had experienced a sexual relationship (and later marriage) with her cousin Day from a young age, a husband who cheated on her, a daughter with significant special needs, a move to Maryland away from her family, and the loss of her mother and several children, she may have accepted her diagnosis as just another challenging phase in her life. When she got the diagnosis over the phone, "She simply went on with her day as if nothing had happened, which was just like her." It may be that Henrietta was simply a stoic or practical person who chose not to worry her family with the news.

Considering the evidence about Henrietta's personality and life revealed in the first three chapters of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, it seems there are several possible explanations for her silence regarding her cancer diagnosis. Henrietta's personality, coupled with her socioeconomic status and the mores of the 1950s may have all contributed to her decision.

In addition to not wanting to worry her loved ones with her cancer diagnosis, Henrietta seems determined to push forward with the initial treatment without entertaining the possibility that her illness will threaten her life. In fact, even when she tells her cousin Sadie in chapter 5 that she has been undergoing treatment, she answers Sadie’s cry of astonishment by saying, “Nothin serious wrong with me. I’m fine.”

This positive mindset and unwillingness to admit worry or vulnerability appears not only to be an effort to keep her loved ones from worrying, but also an effort to keep her own worries at bay. Only when it turns out the treatments have left her infertile does she seem to realize the gravity of her situation and admit to herself (and others) that she is seriously ill. She tells Margaret and Sadie, "Lord, it just feels like the blackness be spreadin all inside me."

The answer to this question can be found in Chapter Three, when Henrietta is called in for treatment after being told that her cancer is malignant. Even though it is clear she would have understood this was serious, she chose not to reveal what was really going on with her even with her closest family members. Note how the book explains this action:

Henrietta didn't tell anyone what Jones said, and no one asked. She simply went on with her day as if nothing had happened, which was just like her--no sense upsetting anyone over something she could deal with herself.

Even when she gets her husband to take her to hospital, she says that there is "nothing wrong" with her and the doctor is going to make her better. This refusal to tell others about her health clearly indicates the strength of Henrietta's character. She is not going to let others suffer for something that affects her alone. She comes across through this decision as a very stoical, resolute and determined woman.