IN 2006, I woke on the first morning of a weeklong business trip to Japan in great pain with a severely swollen leg. I had been raised in Christian Science, but had stopped attending church about 15 years earlier. In the ensuing years, I developed what I called "mental toughness" to get through challenging situations. In this case, I managed to limp through the trip. However, the symptoms did not improve.
As I continued limping over the next number of weeks, my wife, who is not a Christian Scientist, was hearing increasingly distressful "diagnoses" about my condition from well-meaning friends and relatives. Her concern grew.
Finally, after two months had gone by, my wife put me on notice: either I would get better or we would visit a doctor's office at the end of the week. I agreed, hoping the condition would resolve itself. But when I was still unable to walk without limping, we went to the hospital.
