Years later, pregnant with my first son, I had a terrible allergic reaction to a medication I was taking, and my skin became scaly and inflamed, from my face to my feet. Everyone who saw me said, “That looks miserable,” and doctors rushed to relieve my symptoms. “You must be very uncomfortable,” one said. “Poor thing,” volunteered another. But this rash, as terrible as it was, was nothing compared to what I had felt when I was at my most ill. The difference was that none of these symptoms could be seen. The illness was severe but invisible. And that invisibility made all the difference—it made
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