Decoding Annie Parker Page #3

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I'm afraid.

But what I recommend

would be surgery.

- Surgery?

- Mm-hmm.

What's known as a modified

radical mastectomy.

Oh, God.

I'm sorry, Anne.

The surgery would require,

I'm afraid, the removal

of the entire breast,

as well as most of your

underarm lymph nodes.

Oh, God.

Oh, God. William.

I'm scared.

I don't wanna be scared.

I don't want to suffer.

- I know. I know.

- I don't want to suffer.

I don't want to die.

Oh, God.

Hey.

How you doing?

Hey, you want an ice chip?

Oh.

Can I have one?

This is really good ice.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Wow.

It's really good.

Ow. It hurts.

Don't make me laugh.

What? Oh, don't... Oh.

It really hurts.

- And how are we feeling today?

- Not too good.

- Oh?

- I had a breast removed.

Of course.

What I meant...

I'm feeling all right,

considering.

Good.

But, you know, I just knew

this was gonna happen.

It happened to my mom,

happened to my sister,

and it happened to my grandma...

Many women feel that way and,

yes, your family did have

a bit of bad luck, but there

are many complex factors...

- It's not bad luck.

- There's some evidence

that certain people

have a predisposition

based on diet

or environmental factors...

Excuse me a minute.

What are you doing?

Well, there's just some interesting

current research that suggests...

Look, rejection of orthodoxy

always seems within the purview

of the young doctor.

I don't know what my age

has to do with that.

However, to mislead

is irresponsible.

There have always been articles.

There always will be articles.

But because some theory is new

doesn't make it right.

Proof makes it right.

And I've seen no recent evidence

concerning alternative

treatment for cancer

which would lead me to alter

the views I've acquired

over 40 years

of practicing medicine.

- I understand.

- Good.

Good.

Hey, if you wanna

talk some more,

you can just give me a call.

- Oh, thanks a lot, Dr...

- Doctor!

Sean is fine.

- Anne, right?

- Annie.

Annie.

Thanks.

Let me tell you,

I'm gonna be the best nurse

you have ever had.

And I think I already am,

because you can't make out

with your other nurses.

Mommy was in the hospital

because Mommy has cancer.

- Didn't Aunt Joan have cancer?

- Yeah, she did, sweetie.

But she died.

Yeah, she did.

- Are you gonna die?

- Hey, no.

I promise you.

You are not gonna lose

your mommy to cancer.

But how do you know?

Because I just know.

I'm not gonna die.

Wait.

I wanna come with you.

- I'm not going anywhere.

- You're going to work.

That's not anywhere.

Aren't you cleaning Louise

and Steve's pool today?

I wanna come with you.

Come on. It'll be fun.

Please?

Come on, then.

- Let's get in.

- Yeah, right.

I'm serious.

Uh, we're not getting in.

Why not?

Because I don't want to,

and because I'm a pool man,

and pool men don't get

into people's pools.

Is that, like, the pool man's

code of ethics or something?

Why is the water green?

Because Louise's

dumbfuck husband

only has me come once a month.

No. No, I mean, really,

why is it green?

Oh, that's algae.

It's there because the pH

balance of the pool is off.

It can't be

too acid or too base.

It needs to be around 7.5,

the same pH as human tears.

Aw.

See, if you, uh...

If you don't put chlorine in,

you get phosphates,

and algae feeds on phosphate.

But if you put chlorine in,

the algae will die.

But you can't be a dumbfuck

and only have your pool man

come once a month.

Are you gonna

keep wearing eye makeup?

Yeah, I am.

I'm gonna get

something to drink.

- You want something?

- Nah.

I'll stay here.

I didn't know

if the pool was green

because Paul was a bad pool man

or because Louise's husband

was a dumbfuck.

But it made me think.

"Breast cancer.

See cancer."

Okay.

"Cancer.

Any malignant growth or tumor

caused by abnormal

uncontrolled

cell divisions."

William?

Willy, Mommy needs the bathroom.

Number one or number two?

Mommy's gonna buy you

a new backpack.

Okay?

Hi. Sorry. I'm, uh...

- Where are you off to?

- Detroit.

Gotta run.

Hope you're well.

I am fine.

What about our coffee?

You're late.

- What's going on?

- Allen, you got here too late.

- You're late.

- I know, I know. I'm late, I'm late.

We have news.

We've identified a dozen

high-risk families...

50-some cancer cases

between them.

- Good. And so?

- So?

So now we can begin to look

for correlations in earnest.

We need to interview them,

get blood samples,

extract the DNA, and then

begin to look for markers.

- Okay. "Markers"?

- Genetic markers.

We can track them

through the families,

like a signpost on a highway.

Say you have two stretches

of road in the desert...

And they look exactly the same.

But if you pass signposts,

you can measure the intervals...

And you can identify

the different stretches of road.

Even if they look...

And if those markers

are next to something

like the breast cancer gene,

it can be identified.

What is it with

the magazine selection

in doctors' offices?

Hello.

Field & Stream?

Do a lot of your patients

show up wearing camouflage bibs,

a bag full of decoys,

and making duck calls?

I don't know, ma'am.

I would think that you would

notice something like that.

Like I said, I don't know.

Quack.

Quack.

Quack quack.

Quack.

Nice office.

It's not mine.

Dr. Benton takes long lunches.

I figure it's not

hurting anybody.

It was either here

or the cafeteria,

and the floors are

much stickier there.

Are you sure you won't

get into any trouble?

I'm a doctor.

I can't get in trouble.

What can I tell you?

I'm mostly lab-based,

but I can tell you

what I know.

Why do I have cancer?

That's a big question.

There's no one answer.

So many factors involved.

I had a feeling

that you might say that.

You know, I had a teacher

once who told me

what the ideal breast cancer

patient would be.

He said the person

with the highest risk

would be a nun

living in a cold climate,

who was overweight, who ate red meat,

who was breast fed,

whose mother and sister

had premenopausal breast cancer,

and who was Ashkenazi Jewish.

Not a great start,

but he gave me a pile of books,

and I promised to read them.

Doesn't make any sense.

Oh, sh*t!

Good, good! Ohh!

...the puck has

cleared it behind...

You know, it's been hard

for him, too, with everything.

It's not like he gets

any attention.

You're right, you know?

I'm being selfish.

No. That's not

what I meant.

You're right.

Maybe I am.

You know, I feel sorry for Paul.

I do, and I...

I feel sorry for me, too, but...

You know what I feel

most of all?

What?

I just wanna be touched.

Come here.

Come on.

Come here. Come here.

Okay.

So this is something

we need to look at.

Don't mind me.

So does that mean I have to eat

nothing but grapefruit

or something?

No, no.

It's nothing that severe.

Although studies have shown that

foods high in fat,

fried foods...

- Japanese women.

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