Story of Harvey’s Daughter Helps in Girl’s Diagnosis

My family and I would like to extend our appreciation to your staff writer, Robyn Norwood, for her informative article on Whitney Harvey. We’d like to share an incredible story with you.

Two weeks ago, our daughter, Whitney Evans, had a repeat chromosome test. It was recommended because the test has been refined in the past three years. Our daughter is nearly 11 years old and has had an undiagnosed disorder. All the tests through the years have shown nothing and we have agonized. A few days later we read a sentence or two about Whitney Harvey and Angelman’s Syndrome in Sports Illustrated. The name Whitney grabbed our attention and Angelman’s Syndrome became etched in our minds. Shortly after that a friend gave us Robyn’s article and said Whitney Harvey sounded just like our Whitney! (She said she hesitated about giving it to us but she remembered Bryan and Lisa commenting about how much it meant to them to “know.”) Our first thought was, “Here we go again, another disappointment.” But we read the article and were stunned. The next morning we called the doctor to see if Whitney’s chromosome test results were in. He contacted the geneticist and learned that an abnormality was seen on the 15th chromosome! The geneticist had suspected another disorder but Whitney didn’t fit the description. When Angelman’s Syndrome was mentioned he admitted he had never seen a case but that the disorder was a strong possibility!

My husband and I went for blood tests today and the geneticist made a special point of coming to the lab to talk. He is most excited and feels we’ll have a very firm diagnosis soon. You just can’t imagine what we are feeling right now.

Thank you Bryan and Lisa Harvey for going public with your story and thank you Robyn Norwood and the L.A. Times for helping them do so.

MARK and ALICE EVANS

Del Mar