Angela had quit her job and spent more than a year as her caregiver. She had not put limits on her sacrifices. Tending to her mother and ensuring her dignity was her life’s current purpose. Living on a cot or reclining chair for days under unremitting fluorescent hospital lights, frequently being awakened at night, making life-and-death decisions, watching mistakes being made, and being buffeted again and again by new test results was stressful, even unhinging. Hospital life was so different from normal life that it could be jarring to step outside and see people smiling and laughing.
