I think he was alluding to the fact that the family bonds tightly while the patient is in danger/treatment and they remain that way after recovery while the patient feels/is excluded from this tight knit group.
That is an issue, as well as the family’s sense that since you are out of the hospital, one is all better, so what is the problem with you now? Having and surviving a major, life-threatening illness tends to prompt changes in one’s thinking that can be hard to cope with.