My topic is on the kind of pain that children, elders, and people with a not-so-good immune system may face when infected with illnesses caused by E. coli O157: H7. The reason I have chosen these groups of people is because they are the ones that are at most risk of contracting the virus. This topic interests me because in Fast Food Nation, Schlosser informs us of a young boy named Alex Donley, whose “illnesses [caused by E. coli O157:H7] began with abdominal cramps that seemed as sever as labor pains”. (200)That’s an astonishing comparison that he makes, seeing as how I always thought that only women were the ones to feel that kind of enormous pain when they give birth, but for a child to experience that kind of pain? That's ridiculoues. After that, he even experienced diarrhea that contained blood. His pain got so bad that doctors had to drill a hole in his skull to relieve some pain, then they had to insert tubes into his chest to help him breath while the “shiga toxins”(FFN 199-200, 221-222) were tearing down his internal organs. There was not much the doctors or his mother could do but watch helplessly as the little boy’s brain started to "liquefy". (FFN 200)He became ill on a Tuesday, and before dying the following Sunday, he had experienced hallucinations and dementia which made him forget who his mother and father were. This should matter to you as a reader because if you ever witness or experience pains that are this dreadful, you should seek medical attention immediately.Thursday, November 11, 2010
Abdominal cramps that seem as severe as labor pains? Really?
My topic is on the kind of pain that children, elders, and people with a not-so-good immune system may face when infected with illnesses caused by E. coli O157: H7. The reason I have chosen these groups of people is because they are the ones that are at most risk of contracting the virus. This topic interests me because in Fast Food Nation, Schlosser informs us of a young boy named Alex Donley, whose “illnesses [caused by E. coli O157:H7] began with abdominal cramps that seemed as sever as labor pains”. (200)That’s an astonishing comparison that he makes, seeing as how I always thought that only women were the ones to feel that kind of enormous pain when they give birth, but for a child to experience that kind of pain? That's ridiculoues. After that, he even experienced diarrhea that contained blood. His pain got so bad that doctors had to drill a hole in his skull to relieve some pain, then they had to insert tubes into his chest to help him breath while the “shiga toxins”(FFN 199-200, 221-222) were tearing down his internal organs. There was not much the doctors or his mother could do but watch helplessly as the little boy’s brain started to "liquefy". (FFN 200)He became ill on a Tuesday, and before dying the following Sunday, he had experienced hallucinations and dementia which made him forget who his mother and father were. This should matter to you as a reader because if you ever witness or experience pains that are this dreadful, you should seek medical attention immediately.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very sad to read his story. It is crazy how our kids could be the one getting sick, yet they are the ones targetted by the fast food industry and we let that happen. Kids are our resource of the future. Maybe we can fight off illnesses much better, but kids, they are still developing and are not so strong. Just imagine what such a young kid went through within 5 days, what his family went through. Yet these alarming cases fall on deaf ears of the government and they do little to nothing to have our FOODS SAFE.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. I can only imagine hiow many of these cases there have been that ended with the death of sombody's child. Those last five days of his life had to be the WORST. I start feeling bad when I start thinking about what was going through his head that whole time, I mean before the dementia and all. I know what happened to him physically but mentally, how do you think he was feeling?
ReplyDeleteHey kenneth,
ReplyDeleteIm really glad you spoke about this topic because I felt it was one of the more important parts in the chaper. This shows how one frozen hamburger can lead to a nightmare and makes me think twice about even passing by fast food places. The fact that they had to drill holes in his head sounded a little too bizzare. Reading through this made me think more about how this man probably thought he should have never tried that burger.