Characters (in alphabetical order)

Cindy: Friend of Laura’s. She is the Chief Technologist in Breast Imaging at the hospital where Laura works, and she and Laura have known each other for 17 years.

David: Laura’s husband. When the book opens, Laura and David have been married for 24 years. David is a doctor specializing in Infectious Diseases, a native New Yorker who loves jazz, and an incredible husband and father.

Ellen: Author and former scientific consultant who wrote the book “Every Other Thursday” about a group of women who meet every two weeks to give each other mutual support and guidance. She encourages Laura to journal her cancer experience.

Emma: Laura’s daughter. When the book opens she is 14, a freshman in high school. She is full of joy and has an innate sense of style. She loves art and writing.

Gerald: A physician-scientist at Memorial who makes discoveries in the lab and applies them to developing new, targeted anti-cancer drugs.

Jennifer: Friend of Laura’s, to whom most of the emails in the book are directed. Jennifer and Laura met in a chamber music class in New York City ten years ago and keep in touch mostly by email. Jennifer is a child psychologist who lives with her husband and daughter in Philadelphia. She is also a fabulous cellist.

Jimmie: A psychiatrist and former Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Laura’s hospital.

Laura: A doctor at a cancer hospital who develops cancer. Laura is married to David and has two children, Nate and Emma.

Mark: Laura’s brilliant and kind neurosurgeon, originally a boy from Tennessee who couldn’t sing.

Maureen: Friend of Laura’s, also a doctor at the cancer hospital where Laura works. Maureen has had cancer and fears nothing.

Mel: A breast surgeon in California, who has known Laura for years through meetings and publications.

Memorial Hospital/Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY: The finest cancer hospital in the world, where Laura has been a doctor and, at the beginning of the book, becomes a patient.

Mike: A breast pathologist in California who is a friend of Laura’s. In his spare time, Mike participates in Triathlons. He is of Greek descent, an expert in ichthyology (the study of fish), and a friend and scientific collaborator of Mel’s.

Monique (aka “Q”): Friend and neighbor of Laura and her family. She and Laura met in the park when their oldest children were babies and have been close ever since.

Nate: Laura’s son. When the book opens he is 17, a high school junior applying to college. Nate likes community service, teaching, and writing.

Phil: Laura’s oncologist, one of the best lymphoma doctors in the world. He saves lives.

Sam: Laura’s neurologist, an expert in malignancies of the nervous system.

Terri: A doctor at Laura’s hospital specializing in medical oncology. In addition to caring for patients, she creates film documentaries about cancer.