Bodies in Pain and Disability

This morning I was walking back from a lone breakfast in the city centre when I was suddenly struck ill by awareness of a loved one's physical burdens. It was a little bit strange that something I have known of for so long could literally nauseate me when I went through the damage in my head body part by part. 

What I wonder is, does this kind of sympathy mean anything or am I practicing it for my own benefit? I don't imagine any one knows what I'm talking about. I think this is a conversation I need to have with Coetzee.