"Isn't there somebody who can get it all?"

No. Not when the "it" in question is a glioblastoma that's reached its tentacles into parts of your brain that you actually might need later.

As I told his wife, "there's no getting better with this, but there's often 'staying good'."

Then I went into another patient's room to say goodnight. He and his family ribbed me unmercifully and joked around as they'd done all day, with him leading the pack. All 160 pounds of him, cramped up in an odd position because multiple sclerosis had left his muscles too weak to support his body weight.

Last year he was playing football in high school and cruising with his friends.

And I wonder why I have dreams about missing an algebra test, trying to write an English paper, meeting my boyfriend's parents, and my car breaking down--all at once.