Minor Characters
Victoria
Paul’s co-resident and friend at Stanford. She provides a parallel to Paul and serves as an example of how his life’s trajectory might have continued, had he not been diagnosed with cancer.
Shep Nuland
a renowned surgeon-philosopher who lectured at Yale when Paul attended. Paul is particularly struck by his book, How We Die, which confronts the topic of death head-on and provides the model of a doctor who goes above and beyond for his patients.
Matthew
An eight-year-old whom Paul meets during his first year in residency at Stanford. A surgeon removes a brain tumor pressing against Matthew’s hypothalamus, but his hypothalamus is damaged in the process and he is rendered a slave to his appetites.
Jeevan
Paul’s younger brother, who comforts him when he is diagnosed and also supports him through treatment.
Suman
Paul’s older brother, a neurosurgeon who also had attended Stanford, and who serves as another role model for Paul in the medical field.
Melissa
A resident working in the same ob-gyn in which Paul works while he is in medical school.
Mari
A fellow med school student who is on the same hospital rotation as Paul.