Conversations at the Edge: A Doctor and Her Patient Between Life and Death

In the tradition of When Breath Becomes Air, a moving narrative about the deep trust that develops between a doctor and a patient and beacon for what medicine can accomplish when human connection is its North Star.

Julie Goldman walked into Lidia’s office in Boston for her first consultation after she had just been diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer and was deciding who would be on her care team. Among her questions that day, she wanted advice on how to fire a surgeon: was there an etiquet...