I wanted to care for my parents as they got older. The reality is proving to be more difficult.

The author vowed to care for her parents as they aged. Courtesy of Lindsay Karp I always envisioned caring for my parents as they aged. However, I've lived with multiple sclerosis for two decades, which makes things more difficult. My mom recently had surgery, which threw this reality into sharp relief. "I'll try to meet you there," I told my mother a few months ago, one evening before bed. "I'm not feeling great, but I'll do my best," I confirmed before hanging up the phone. The next morning, my 71-year-old mother had surgery to lift her bladder. My 74-year-old father is a stage 4 tongue cancer survivor now dealing with the overwhelming downstream effects of radiation — and I live with multiple sclerosis (MS) — so usually my otherwise healthy mother plays the caregiver role.