A loved one’s serious illness at a relatively young age can upset the most mundane life plans and generate unexpected side effects for all concerned. Yoav Potash has this Perspective.
I probably grimaced when my wife asked me to floss her teeth.
Only in distant “golden years” did I suppose I might care for a partner with a chronic condition. Not while we have kids in preschool and first grade.
My wife has an autoimmune disorder, one of those bizarre ailments where the body attacks itself. It’s not life threatening, just quality-of-life threatening. Each week she must give herself an injection, a fight-poison-with-poison approach to treating an ailment that has medical science stumped.
She’d love to instead heal herself by cutting out comfort foods and alcohol, or exercising more, or less, or differently, or by seeing a naturopath—she’s tried ’em all, but her symptoms persist.