It is a situation we all fear and none of us can imagine: a life-threatening diagnosis. But what if the person receiving the diagnosis--young, physically fit, poised for a bright future--is himself a doctor? At thirty-one David biro has just completed his residency and joined his father's successful dermatology practice. Struck with a rare blood disease that eventually necessitates a bone marrow transplant, Biro relates with honesty and courage the story of his most transforming journey. He is forthright about the advantages that his status as a physician may have afforded him; and yet no such advantage can protect him from the anxiety and doubt brought on by his debilitating therapies. The pressures that Biro's wild "one hundred days" brings to bear on his heretofore well-established identity as a caregiver are enormous--as is the power of this riveting story of survival. "[A] vivid memoir…lucid and gentle. It is the story of a doctor with the heart of a poet." – The New York Times Book Review "Extraordinary. Fate gave serious pause to the young physician who wrote this powerfully affecting and instructive book -- and, too, in a sense, fate gave us what happened: a writer's thoughtful and stirring response to an experience that nurtured his expressive life even as it seriously threatened his future. Surely every medical student will want to make this book's acquaintance -- and so, too, the rest of us mortals." –Robert Coles, author of The Spiritual Life of Children "A splendidly written, thoughtful, and honest medical adventure story. As an exploration of what uncertainty in medicine means to patients and doctors, there is nothing better." –David J. Rothman, author of Strangers at the Bedside "Lean, taut, suspenseful... One Hundred Days is a searing portrayal of the human experience in this contemporary era of high-tech medicine. You will be deeply informed about the body's response to disease as well as inspired by the possibility of lucidity, humor, and courage in the face of death." –Irvin Yalom, author of Momma and the Meaning of Life It is a situation we all fear and none of us can imagine: a life-threatening diagnosis. But what if the person receiving the diagnosis--young, physically fit, poised for a bright future--is himself a doctor? At thirty-one David biro has just completed his residency and joined his father's successful dermatology practice. Struck with a rare blood disease that eventually necessitates a bone marrow transplant, Biro relates with honesty and courage the story of his most transforming journey. He is forthright about the advantages that his status as a physician may have afforded him; and yet no such advantage can protect him from the anxiety and doubt brought on by his debilitating therapies. The pressures that Biro's wild "one hundred days" brings to bear on his heretofore well-established identity as a caregiver are enormous--as is the power of this riveting story of survival. It is a situation we all fear and none of us can imagine: a life-threatening diagnosis. But what if the person receiving the diagnosis--young, physically fit, poised for a bright future--is himself a doctor? At thirty-one David biro has just completed his residency and joined his father's successful dermatology practice. Struck with a rare blood disease that eventually necessitates a bone marrow transplant, Biro relates with honesty and courage the story of his most transforming journey. He is forthright about the advantages that his status as a physician may have afforded him; and yet no such advantage can protect him from the anxiety and doubt brought on by his debilitating therapies. The pressures that Biro's wild "one hundred days" brings to bear on his heretofore well-established identity as a caregiver are enormous--as is the power of this riveting story of survival. David Biro was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and at Columbia and Oxford Universities. He teaches dermatology at the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center and practices in Brooklyn. He has written previously about his illness in the New York Times Magazine . He lives in New York City. Chapter One Wednesday morning in September. A brisk fall morning sends sunlight flickering through the blinds. I wake to the sweet stirrings of an old alarm clock. I am a doctor, thirty-one years old, just graduated from residency and the newest employee in my father's dermatology practice in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I awake, I'm not ashamed to say, with youthful vigor -- life is good. My first stop is Downstate Medical School for a conference. In the Outpatient Dermatology Clinic, patients wait in each examining room. They will be asked questions and examined by nearly thirty physicians. Later their cases will be discussed in the conference hall. The familiar faces of my residency are assembled outside the clinic. I am now an assistant professor. Dressed in a new suit, I am expected to answer rather than ask questi