Aside from the whole sick part...

In the animal kingdom, the weak and sick get weeded out and left behind to fend for themselves, because that's what's appropriate for the common good. The human equivalent of this is that if you stay sick long enough, no matter how much your family loves you, they will eventually get tired of your being sick and will become more concerned with the inconvenience that it causes them. Stay sick for over a month, like me, and you risk becoming a pariah.

Once that happens, you're stuck. If your inclination is to try to act like nothing's wrong, you feel awful and/or get sicker, but at least people are nice to you. Acting like you're still sick will help you feel better, but you won't be treated well. At this point, in my usual fashion, I'm balancing between the two- trying to keep up as much normalcy as possible, while getting the rest I need.