Her daughters, who were 13 and 15 at the time, weathered the family crisis fine. “They were too normal,” says Dale, meaning they continued to be “demanding, self-absorbed teenagers.” And her husband soon redeemed himself for his early bad reaction by becoming a model empathetic, supportive spouse and eventually writing the book focused on their experience dealing with the illness.

As bad as her experience was, Dale now considers her “year of trial” a time of personal growth. “In a bizarre way, I felt triumphant after it was all over,”