Chapter 1, Problem 2MITC

Patty is a mother to 14-year-old twins and works full time. Between her own job, driving her kids to practices and events, and spending time with her husband. Patty is constantly on the go. This past weekend was no exception. On Friday night, her office group went out for happy hour to celebrate a colleague’s promotion. They had a great time—eating sushi, drinking wine, and relaxing Saturday morning, her daughter’s soccer team had a brunch, and in the afternoon her Son’s Little League team had an end-of-the-season barbecue. Saturday night she felt a little bit bloated but thought it was from the all the food she had eaten at the brunch—she was so full from the brunch that she had eaten only fruit salad at the barbecue.

Late Sunday afternoon, Patty and her husband returned home from his sister’s birthday party. As they began to prepare dinner, Patty started to have a stomachache and felt a bit nauseated. She suspected it was from eating too much birthday cake; however, when she woke up in the middle of the night with diarrhea, she thought it might be something more than the cake. Monday morning Patty was unable to go to work—she had a terrible headache, and the diarrhea had lasted all night long. When she starts vomiting early Monday afternoon, she decides that she needs to go to the doctor.

What else could be causing Patty’s symptoms?