I don’t understand why the author didn’t take medical leave. That’s exactly what this is for. You get reduced pay while on leave, though you can work with the company to see if they can fulfill a portion of that. My current employer covers 30%, while short-term covers 60%. 90% pay to be able to completely disconnect from work for several months is absolutely worth it.

It does sound like communication with the manager was poor, though. The manager should have been more empathetic to their situation (depends heavily on how comfortable the employee was with giving out this information).