This reminded me of my manager from a couple years ago. They too had cancer, and decided that they’d become a workaholic rather than take the time off that they needed. It also meant they expected everyone they worked with, to work just as hard. With just as many long hours as them.
It was a living nightmare, and ended very poorly. It would be nice if people had mandatory time off when experiencing such trauma in life.
As someone who’s currently managing a team, when skip levels try to circumvent me, it is the absolute worst.