Terminally Ill Stanford Neurosurgeon, Writer Passes Away at 37

[Lucca]

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-ne...surgeon-writer-paul-kalanithi-dies-at-37.html

It's a very touching, tragic perspective on studying and practicing medicine (and living life) with a terminal illness and on 'dual citizenship' - practicing medicine and being a seriously ill patient, something many of us can identify with - that we should think about when considering how long this road this, life balance, but also what we hope to gain from our careers. Overall a sad but affirming story about someone who had very little time but certainly wanted to make the most out of it.

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[JubalHarshaw]

Rest in peace, Dr. Kalanithi. You were truly an inspiration.

Thank you for sharing, @Lucca

 

[medic86]

RIP, Dr. Kalanithi.

 

[caffeinemia]

A definite loss for the world.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-ne...surgeon-writer-paul-kalanithi-dies-at-37.html

It's a very touching, tragic perspective on studying and practicing medicine (and living life) with a terminal illness and on 'dual citizenship' - practicing medicine and being a seriously ill patient, something many of us can identify with - that we should think about when considering how long this road this, life balance, but also what we hope to gain from our careers. Overall a sad but affirming story about someone who had very little time but certainly wanted to make the most out of it.

Wow, that is a truly courageous man. Brought tears to my eyes.

 

[caffeinemia]

Wow, that is a truly courageous man. Brought tears to my eyes.

If only we could live every day in the shadow of death and learn to better appreciate the sun on our faces!

 

[Omppu27]

Wow. Just read @ridethecliche's thread about this guy a couple days ago. Thought he was still alive... So sad.

 

[breakintheroof]

I can't believe he has died. Just little while ago I watched the video in his article. What a loss.

He and his wife decided to have a child when they knew that he was stage-4. I can't exactly explain why, but this seems like a courageous decision to me. Such a heartbreaking part of the video where he talked about what the time with his daughter meant when he knew she wouldn't remember him...

And his words for her:

“When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.”

 

[Lucca]

Wow. Just read @ridethecliche's thread about this guy a couple days ago. Thought he was still alive... So sad.

I wasn't aware there was another thread! I searched for the doc's name but nothing came up.

 

[Salt Salt]

Help me to understand... and please remember that I am just looking for help without hurtful comments... I've just been rejected for like the 10th time in the last two weeks...

I can't believe he has died. Just little while ago I watched the video in his article. What a loss.

He and his wife decided to have a child when they knew that he was stage-4. I can't exactly explain why, but this seems like a courageous decision to me. Such a heartbreaking part of the video where he talked about what the time with his daughter meant when he knew she wouldn't remember him...

And his words for her:

Beautiful.

 

[Omppu27]

I wasn't aware there was another thread! I searched for the doc's name but nothing came up.

Can't remember the title of the thread. But it was a link to the article that Dr. Kalanithi wrote.

Not to take away from this thread at all, but there was a similar story of a physician learning that he has terminal cancer that Atul Gawande tweeted a few weeks back: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/1...earning-he-has-terminal-cancer.html?referrer=

Couldn't even begin to imagine learning this kind of news.

 

[funsnp]

We keep overstating but forgetting how fragile and precious life is. After my first year of college I asked myself when I'd finally slow down and spend more time enjoying life and its intrinsic beauties than I do worrying about that extra point on the MCAT or the difference between a C and B in a class. I couldn't answer myself, so I began putting my happiness before anything else, and the only change I made was making every decision in my life entirely focused on making me happy. We're always going to have obligations we don't want to fulfill, but we ought to all spend more time doing things that make us happy.

At the end of the day you can accomplish more than anybody else and make more money than the botanist, but what's the point of if at your last moments in life you can't tell yourself you were as happy as you could have been?

 

[cyclopes93]

I really appreciated this quote by Dr. Kalanithi:

“When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.”

RIP. The world will have 1 less amazing intellect of which the ripples have been felt heavy.