My Mother Poisoned Me for 23 Years

Synopsis

When I went for my grad school physical examination, everyone else breezed through it. But my report had a glaring red stamp on it. My blood arsenic level was 0.87 mg/L, four times higher than the safe limit. The doctor took off his glasses and checked the report over and over. "Melanie, have you been exposed to arsenic for a long time? Like pesticides, industrial chemicals, or maybe medicine?" I was stunned for a solid ten seconds. All I could picture was one thing. The old black pot that had been in the kitchen for twenty-three years and the herbal tonic my mom brought to me every single day. "Mel, drink it hot. A cold drink is bad for your stomach," she'd say. She must've said that thousands of times since I was little. Everyone in Willow Creek said Linda Foster was the most devoted mom in town. For twenty-three years, she never missed a single day making herbal tonic for her sickly eldest daughter. I gripped the report, my fingers went numb. No way. That couldn't be true. There must be some misunderstanding.