Her Stomach Hurt Unbearably. Her Doctors Were Baffled.
Credit...Photo illustration by Ina Jang
Published Dec. 28, 2020Updated Dec. 31, 2020
The 45-year-old leaned forward in the car’s front seat, the seatbelt tight across her chest. She and her partner had driven to pick up some groceries, but now she was afraid to move, terrified of doing anything that might trigger the intense pain she was suffering. Her boyfriend looked at her, worried and frustrated. You have to go to the hospital, he told her. She had been in pain all morning, but each time he suggested they go to the E.R., she refused. Now she finally relented. He edged the car out into traffic and drove to nearby Cooley Dickinson hospital in Northampton, Mass.