My role as caregiver started in earnest in 2006. Here’s what I remember:

My wife wakes me up at about 1:30 in the morning to say that she can’t pee. She has to go, but she can’t.

We eventually show up at the emergency room of the University Hospital. The physician asks if my wife has “Ghee-yam-bo-ray” (Guillain-Barre) syndrome* or myasthenia gravis**. Never heard of them.

The physician has only one ear.

My wife tries one more time to pee; now it’s difficult to walk. The catheter goes in. An incredible amount of fluid comes out. She starts to complain about severe pain just from the light touch of the sheet on her legs. Even a sudden draft of air bothers her.

The orderly arrives to take my wife away for a stat MRI. We say goodbye. I have to leave so that I can get our daughter off to school. We expect that I'll pick her up later that day.

When I come back, I find out that she's been admitted.

*Guillain-Barre syndrome
**myasthenia gravis