“In sickness and in health”: what no one tells you about caring for a loved one

病中与康时:关爱亲人时那些无人告知的真相

Apple News In Conversation

2026-02-20

24 分钟
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When she was 28, Laura Mauldin became a full-time caregiver for her romantic partner with leukemia — an experience that exposed how deeply America’s health-care system depends on the unpaid labor of loved ones. Now a disability scholar, Mauldin explores this hidden reality in her new book, In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories From the Front Lines of America’s Caregiving Crisis. She sat down with Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to discuss how gaps in the medical system leave families shouldering the burden of care — and how couples navigate that strain while maintaining their sense of partnership and dignity.
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  • Hey, it's Shamita.

  • Just a heads up, I am having a baby, my second baby.

  • And so I'm going to be stepping away from the mic for a little bit.

  • Pretty soon, you're going to hear some amazing guest hosts starting with Sam Sanders,

  • the award-winning podcast and radio host.

  • Until then, here is an episode that we recorded before I left.

  • I hope you enjoy it.

  • This is In Conversation from Apple News.

  • I'm Shamita Besu.

  • Today, when the vow in sickness and in health becomes a uniquely American burden.

  • When Laura Maldon was 27 years old, she was a sociology grad student in New York City.

  • One night she went to a WNBA game with some friends, and that's where she met Jay.

  • It was sort of like a lightning strike, as they say, and that was kind of it.

  • From that moment, we were never apart again.

  • Just weeks into the glow of their new relationship,

  • Jay told Laura that her leukemia, which had long been in remission, had returned.

  • She told me that this is kind of the last chance.

  • I have to have this thing called a bone marrow transplant, or this will kill me.

  • Jay's parents were both dead.

  • And Laura, newly in love, quickly stepped up to help with Jay's care.