My younger sister had epilepsy from very early childhood. I grew up taking care of her - my parents kind of ignored it as long as they could.. My father was a real alcoholic and my mother became one later in her life (both no longer living). She was on medications her whole life and her overall personality became pretty altered.
She died 3 years ago from her condition. She lived almost a half century and it was a real struggle for her. In her last few years she was more or less homeless and would not take any help from family.. It is a very sad story. I was really close to her because I took care of her as long as she would let me (from infancy into her adult years).
I never really thought much about being the sib of a disabled person before this - i.e. not this specifically. There must be a lot of us out here.
Provocative thread, gneiss.. thanks.. KB