Thanks for all the responses. It doesn't sound like anyone has pushed through and been glad they did.
I am glad my wife pushed through. In fact, it was border-line miraculous coming out on the other side of it.. I don't even tell people in the real world (unless they have CFS) about what happened, because it sounds like I'm crazy.
Bad symptoms for a few weeks, then she was running a triathalon 6 months later. Hasn't been to the doctor for an illness in two years. She is a normal, healthy human and we had our first kid 6 weeks ago. There is no way she would have pushed through the "start-up" symptoms going at it alone. I'm not sure if there is a better way to get through it, but pushing through worked for us.