For three years, a 30-year-old farmer watched his abdomen swell. He visited several medical centers. He had multiple ultrasound examinations, and every one was read the same way: ascites, free fluid in the abdominal cavity. He was diagnosed with liver disease, started on diuretics, and had his abdomen tapped repeatedly to drain the fluid.
None of it worked, and the label eventually became refractory ascites, meaning fluid that will not respond to treatment.
