"I got sick when I was 19, and I'd been a really healthy 19-year-old, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. Does it feel like the pain after you give birth? I don't know"

This quote by Laura Hillenbrand talks to the trouble of understanding and interpreting disease. She reveals her lack of experience with sickness, as she was a healthy 19-year-old before she got sick. She wonders if the discomfort she experienced resembled the discomfort of childbirth, but she does not understand because she has actually never ever given birth. This quote highlights the difficulty of understanding and analyzing disease, specifically when one has actually never experienced it in the past. It also talks to the problem of understanding the discomfort of others, as Hillenbrand has never knowledgeable giving birth and therefore can not compare the 2. This quote works as a reminder that we must be caring and understanding of those who are ill, as we may not have the ability to totally comprehend their experience.