AlmaGuzman had been in Chicago's Cook County Hospital for almost a week.Her children had brought her to the emergency room because her abdomenwas growing, and they thought that at the age of 48 she was too old tobe pregnant.
Her evaluation had been intensive. She was notpregnant. A CT scan had shown that her abdomen was filled with fluid.The list of potential causes for such a condition can be long, but herinternists had ruled out the easy ones: Alma did not have any of themetabolic disorders that cause cirrhosis of the liver; she did not havelong-standing hepatitis, though her blood tests revealed she had beenexposed to hepatitis years before; and her heart, kidneys, thyroid, andblood vessels were quite healthy. Plus, her chest X ray was normal.Scanning through her test results on the hospital computer before goingto see her, I thought everything seemed fine.
But one glanceat her told me otherwise. ...
