The Fumigation Chamber Summary and Analysis

Betty Page had an idyllic life. Both she and her husband were physicians with a daughter's wedding to plan. Betty began to have symptoms of nausea, cramps and diarrhea which did not subside. Further, she began to sweat, experienced a metallic taste in her mouth, and lost her appetite. All tests were negative. When she took a leave of absence from her job and began to spend more time at their lake home, additional symptoms appeared, specifically double vision, muscle weakness and involuntary leg twitching. She began to suspect Lou Gehrig's disease. Late one night, as she was sitting at the kitchen table feeling horrible, she happened to glance at the exterminator's invoice, and a light dawned. Hers was a textbook case of organophosphate poisoning from the insecticide used at the cottage. Her husband was not so...