Free What She Left Us by Stephanie Elliot Page A

combined will tell us if you have hemochromatosis, or the
start of the disease.”
    The
doctor looked to Jenna and then to Courtney.
    “I
know this is a lot to take in, are you girls following me?”
    For
the first time, Courtney had a strange look on her face, like she might be
frightened, but she nodded.
    “I
think so,” Jenna said quietly.
    “Okay,
so then, there are some cases in which we can’t get a clear read on these two
tests and a liver biopsy may be necessary.”
    Courtney
and Jenna reached for each other’s hands.
    “But,”
Dr. Rhetler continued, “In your case, since you’re sisters, and this is, I
guess, a positive… Since we know that if one of you has it, the other will have
it, then we should get a clear read on you and we probably won’t have to go the
liver biopsy route.”
    Sighs
escaped from both girls. Dr. Rhetler smiled sympathetically.
    “The
good news is, you are both very young, and by the looks of things, very
healthy. Besides the unfortunate death of your mother, do either of you have
any unnecessary stress in your lives?”
    “Uh,”
Jenna paused. “My fiancé and I just broke up, and I’m considering quitting school.”
    Courtney
looked at her sister. Good God, she was crazy.
    “You’re
not going to get your master's?” Courtney asked.
    “I
don’t know. Maybe.”
    “Well
girls, at a time like this, I don’t know if it’s smart to introduce new
stresses into your life. Really think about it before you do anything rash,
Jenna. If thinking about school is causing you stress, maybe take a semester
off. You can always go back. Your health is important,” Dr. Rhetler said.
“Please make wise decisions.”
    Then
Dr. Rhetler looked to Courtney, “And you, Courtney? How are you? Your stress
levels?”
    “I’m…
I’m pretty good. I’m an RA up at Northern P University. There’s a bit of stress
involved with the responsibilities, but I think I lead a pretty healthy
lifestyle.”
    Jenna
nodded in agreement.
    “Okay
then. So the next step in all of this is I’ll get the results back in a week to
ten days. Someone on staff will call you both. Hopefully, that will be the end
of that and the tests will be negative. If they do come out positive, the
treatments… has anyone talked about treatments?”
    “I’ve
read about some of the options,” Jenna said.
    “Okay.”
Dr. Rhetler said. “There are prescriptions but those are the most mild cases
and extremely rare situations. Most cases require phlebotomy. You’re familiar?”
    The
girls half nodded, half shrugged so Dr. Rhetler continued. “It’s almost like
going in to donate blood. And most of my hemochromatosis patients go in twice to
three times a week to start off. Yes, it’s a hassle, and time-consuming, but
listen up, it’s life-saving. The goal is to get rid of the iron that’s
attacking your system. And that’s what we’ll do, okay?”
    “Dr.
Rhetler?” Courtney asked.
    “Yes?”
    “If
this does happen, will I still be able to go to school? Can I do this blood
thing at school and stay at NPU?”
    “Absolutely
one-hundred percent. This will not have a negative effect on your life
whatsoever. This is not a death sentence, girls. This will be preventative and
life-altering, but not life-threatening. You both understand this, don’t you? This
is not going to kill you. If you have it, we’ll treat it and you’ll both be
fine,” Dr. Rhetler smiled.
    At
these words, Jenna felt like she could exhale for the first time since she
received the autopsy report that had claimed hemochromatosis to be
life-threatening. Even if she and her sister had the disease, they would be
able to treat it, and they would both be okay. She heard it from Dr. Rhetler
personally. She and Courtney were going to be just fine.

Chapter 22
    Jenna
tried, she really did, but she found it really hard to keep the promise she
made to her father to be a really good girl, to help her Mommy out and to be
patient while her baby sister was in the