US lawyer Suzanne Summerlin, 42, learned she needed surgery to treat an unidentified and increasingly worrisome pelvic infection. Exploratory surgery revealed a retained appendix causing infections, leading to her recovery after nearly 10 years. Summerlin expressed gratitude for her doctors, highlighting the relief from unexplained and painful ailments.
Suzanne Summerlin was trying to keep it together. In late 2023, the 42-year-old lawyer learned she needed surgery to treat an unidentified and increasingly worrisome pelvic infection, just as she was contending with the demands of a potential new job that required confirmation by the US Senate. For Summerlin, who had been nominated by President Joe Biden to be general counsel of the Federal Labour Relations Authority, the recurrent problem brought back traumatic memories surrounding the birth of her daughter a decade earlier.
Within days of her 2014 emergency Caesarean section, she developed a life-threatening infection that sent her to the intensive care unit. “This time I was facing the stress of the infection and the stress” of the confirmation, Summerlin said. “I was very scared and, again, no one had answers.
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