The reporter said about her writing the book "At the time, she was suffering from a chronic, debilitating illness and was unable to leave the home". ... She said a few words (sorry don't remember) and he said he admired her because he had only suffered a few years, she suffered for much longer. ...... But that comment AT THE TIME, really bothering me. Anyone else have an issue with that?
I consider myself a bit of a "wordsmith" or "word parser", so FWIW, here's my take. I'll bold the key words for me.
"At the time" she was suffering from a "chronic, debilitating illness..." This is followed up by
"She suffered much longer..." reinforcing the fact that her debilitating illness was indeed
"chronic". I actually think the reporter did a pretty good job, with the use of the above descriptive words, plus importantly,
"was unable to leave her home." --- Given how careless words and/or comments are often used in referring to others' unexplained illness, especially ME/CFS, this doesn't seem to be too egregious.