ay. It can regress at times, or be treated by drugs and other methods, but it remains in the background. One woman notes, "At the time of my mother's illness, between the ages of 12 and 21, I myself suffered from a chronic illness, asthma, which at times made my life unbearable" (Royer, 1998, p. xi). Of course, some chronic illnesses can be extremely debilitating. The author refers to a time when her mother was bedridden with rheumatoid arthritis, and could not care for herself or her family at all. As a result, the author, at a young age, began caring for the family herself, even though she too suffered from a chronic illness. She was healthy in other aspects of her life, and able to care for the family, but her chronic illness affected her mentally and physically.
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