Fredricka R. Maister

Counting my bruchas

Published on October 18, 2007

They say brakha, I say brucha in referring to BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, the strong predictors of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer found with unusual frequency in women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Yes, "brucha," the Hebrew for blessing. Initially, I was being facetious by giving a Jewish pronunciation to the "Jewish gene"; at age 56 I had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and "tumor humor" helped me cope.

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