Gifts of Time Book

His patients are the hopeless ones: in terrible pain, paralyzed, and in many cases on the brink of death. They come from everywhere: throughout the United States, North and South America, even Europe and Asia. For them, Dr. Fred Epstein is the doctor of last resort, after months or years of misdiagnosis or no diagnosis at all. Dr. Epstein is a pediatric neurosurgeon who has developed and pioneered a body of techniques for the treatment of brain and nervous-system tumors. In the early 1980s, as his techniques were being developed, the patients trickled in. Today, the trickle has become a torrent and the successful surgeries number in the thousands. Dr. Epstein embodies both technical virtuosity and profound humanity: He is the rare surgeon who lives his patients' suffering both before and after the drama of surgery has occurred and strives to shoulder the burden of his failures. Through the truly harrowing ordeal of several young patients under Dr. Epstein's care, Gifts of Time etches a memorable portrait of modern medicine on the forefront - and of patients and practitioners working together to beat overwhelming odds every day. From first page to last, this is an irresistibly paced medical adventure that is at once truly gripping and, ultimately, triumphant.

Dr. Epstein, the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at NYU Medical Center, specializes in the treatment of children with brain and nervous-system tumors. Through his story--and the stories of his patients--readers share a rare inside look at life-and-death struggles when cutting-edge medical technology meets the human spirit.