Paul kalanithi biography

What initially drew me to read the eloquent essay bygd Paul Kalanithi, MD, in The New York Times—“How Long Have I Got Left?”—was its provokativ title.¹ What kept me there was the moving description of his quick transition from healthy physician with a brilliant career in neurosurgery to terminally ill cancer patient. A lifelong nonsmoker, Dr. Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV non–small cell EGFR-positive lung cancer in spring at age He died from the disease on March 9,

In his essay, Dr. Kalanithi said that even more difficult than facing the certainty of death was facing an uncertain life. “The path forward would seem obvious, if only I knew how many months or years I had left,” he wrote. “Tell me 3 months, I’d just spend time with my family. Tell me 1 year, I’d have a plan…. Give me 10 years, I’d get back to treating diseases. The pedestrian truth that you live one day at a time didn’t help: What was inom supposed to d

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Paul Kalanithi said his daughter, Cady, filled him with "a joy unknown to me in all my prior years." He passed away on March 9.
Gregg Segal

Stanford neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, MD, who wrote eloquently and movingly about facing mortality after being diagnosed with lung cancer, died of the disease March 9. He was

Kalanithi, who had recently completed his neurosurgery residency at the Stanford University School of Medicine and become a first-time father, was an instructor in the Department of Neurosurgery and fellow at the Stanford Neurosciences Institute.

"We are all devastated by the tragedy of his sudden illness and untimely demise," said Gary Steinberg, MD, PhD, professor and chair of neurosurgery. "Paul spent seven years with us. He's very much part of our neurosurgical family. It affects us like a death in a closely knit family."

Kalanithi's essays, "How Long Have I Got Left?" for The New York Times and "Before I Go" f

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When Breath Becomes Air

Autobiographical book by Paul Kalanithi

When Breath Becomes Air is a non-fictionautobiographical book written by American neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi. It is a memoir about his life and battling stage IV metastaticlung cancer. It was posthumously published by Random House on January 12, ^[1]

In his last year of neurosurgical residency at Stanford University, Kalanithi experiences negative changes in his health. Rapid weight loss and severe back and chest pains begin to raise concern for him and his wife, Lucy Kalanithi. He worries that cancer might have caused his symptoms and his decline of health – unlikely for people in their thirties. However, when the X-ray results in a routine medical check-up return normal, he and his primary care physician attribute the symptoms to aging and work overload.^[2]

Determined to finish the last months of his residency, he ignores whatever symptoms have not subsided. A few weeks later, the symptom