LPT:if you find out someone is seriously ill, don't avoid them, either in person or otherwise.

Personal experience, the rumor mill was working overtime, and I was just out with my wife at a school function. Nobody would talk to me, and they gave her the sad look. I'm sick, and recovering from serious surgery, but I'm not dead or dying as far as I know. It made me feel really isolated, I can't even imagine what folks that are actually really sick are going through.