tony pignataro's mother supported them financially, or their situation would have been far worse. >> anthony pignataro came from a good family. his father was a well-respected and excellent surgeon in buffalo. his mother was a fine person. >> after the pignataros' reconciliation, debbie started to feel ill. >> i had thought i had the flu for months, just maybe a little case of the flu, because i would get nauseous and vomit and just not be myself. >> initially, neither her husband nor her doctors knew what to make of it. >> i was having trouble walking where i couldn't lift my legs. there was numbness in my legs and hands. >> i diagnosed myodisplastic state, and the neurologist diagnosed other things, the gastroenterologist diagnosed pancreatitis. we didn't know how to put it all together, so we were all puzzled. >> tony thought debbie's gallbladder should have been surgically removed, but her doctors disagreed. >> i was so weak and my condition was so grave that i probably would have died on the table, i was told. >> but she got better. and when she got better we relaxed and thought,