The pain, like a screwdriver twisting hotly through her knee, was excruciating. And the swelling, well, you could see it ballooning through her pants.
Angela Coulombe, 42, had just run the 2007 Beach to Beacon—a 10-K along the picturesque coast of her hometown, Portland, Maine. She thought she had simply reignited an old injury (she had knee surgery back in high school). So she did what any athlete would do: rested, iced, and popped ibuprofen for a week. When that didn’t help, she headed to the physical therapist. An MRI revealed nothing beyond unspecified knee inflammation. She began physical therapy, but a month in, the pain and swelling only worsened.
Then came the nausea, migraines, and fatigue. Coulombe’s feet, elbows, shoulders, and back ached so much she couldn’t sleep. She…