“Robert read everything with small print.”
“Yes,” she said. “He did.”
She opened the file and took out a single sheet.
“Your results came back in March of 2014. Robert was already in the hospital. That’s why I came to St. Francis that day. To give him the results.”Find Hospitals
She handed it to me.
PROJECT MARGARET — Participant #1,412
Participant: Margaret A. Whitmore
Genetic panel: BRCA1 — NEGATIVE. BRCA2 — NEGATIVE.
Transvaginal ultrasound: Left ovary — simple cyst, 2.1 cm. Smooth walls. No concerning features. Likely benign.
Recommendation: Repeat ultrasound in 12–24 months to monitor.
I read it three times.
“Negative,” I said. “The genes. The ones Mama and Ruthie had.”
“Negative,” Evelyn said. “You don’t carry the mutation, Margaret. Whatever happened to your mother and sister, you didn’t inherit that particular risk.”
I put my hand over my mouth.Study Anatomy
For forty-six years, since the night my sister died, I had lived with the certainty that it was coming for me. Every time my stomach hurt. Every time I felt tired. Every birthday, I’d think, Maybe this is the year.
