Nancy's sickness:

E. coli poisoning. My mother had treated the family to a cruise through the Panama Canal (indeed a supposedly fun thing I'll never do again). We got off in Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, for an afternoon's escape from our shipboard companions. We ate at a Chinese restaurant and once back on board, I started cramping up. The shipboard doctor could do nothing for me (no antibiotics!) so for several days I was in the worst pain I've ever experienced. I will spare you the details but suffice it to say, I lost upwards of ten pounds.