My Own Medicine
A Doctor's Life as a Patient
By Geoffrey Kurland
(Times Books, Hardcover, 9780805071719, 272pp.)
Publication Date: January 2002
Categories: Diseases - Cancer, Medical - Physicians, Specific Groups - Special Needs
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From mortal illness to miraculous recovery, a doctor's moving account of his own experience as a patient
At forty-two, Geoffrey Kurland, a pediatric pulmonologist specializing in such deadly diseases as cystic fibrosis, was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia, a rare cancer with a statistically low survival rate. A remarkably fit man in training for 100-mile "extreme" races whose job is equally high performance, he is forced to confront the challenge of his own mortality. He tries to cope by turning inward in a desperate search for ever-elusive answers. As the doctor becomes a patient and lives through the terror and pain that he had until then only observed at a remove in his young patients, he learns invaluable life lessons that will ultimately make him a better doctor.
This is Kurland's memoir of his diagnosis, treatment, and return to health and "normal" life-an unforgettable testament to the resilence of the human spirit.
Geoffrey Kurland, M.D., is a pediatric pulmonologist and director of the Pediatric Flexible Bronchoscopy Service, the Pediatric Pulmonary Transplant Program, and the Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. This is his first book. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
"The story of Kurland's battle with a disease that almost took his life, is compelling and poignant . . . unique and deeply insightful."
-Abraham Verghese, author of My Own Country and The Tennis Partner
"Taut, dramatic, and intensely real . . . very well-written."
-Oliver Sacks
"Dr. Kurland, no longer a tourist in the land of cancer, here shares his experience as a native. I admire his courage."
-Bernie Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine & Miracles and Prescriptions for Living
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