Includes bibliographical references and index.

: Leukemia arrives by dark of night -- A bleak start to life -- A time for decisions -- The purgatory of the hospital -- Free at last -- Things fall apart -- A life extinguished, a life awakened

"When Blood Breaks Down explores the lives and emotions of three leukemia patients, their caregivers, the doctor-patient relationship, and the history of the incredible discoveries that led to their treatment. Three people receive a diagnosis of leukemia within hours of each other. As is true of any person diagnosed with cancer, they must make decisions about how their cancer will be treated - decisions that may place their own lives in danger and that will affect the people who love them. A pregnant woman must decide whether or not to risk the health of her fetus in accepting chemotherapy, while a man must choose between satisfying his own needs, or those of his family. Another woman leaves one final gift for her children. Through their journeys, we learn about the history of leukemia, what causes it, including leukemia in atomic bomb survivors, and the drugs used to treat it. We hear the incredible story of what is considered one of the most effective cancer therapies ever discovered, and the scientists who persisted in its development despite the system working against them. One woman receives a complete stranger's bone marrow, a miraculous procedure whose invention started with work performed in beagles and led to a Nobel Prize. A treatment dismissed as non-traditional because it was discovered in China proves itself to be more effective than the standard, western chemotherapy in trials conducted in the U.S. and Europe, while another targets the genetics of the leukemia, allowing the cancer cells to grow normally again. We also meet the doctors and nurses who have devoted their lives to caring for cancer patients. When Blood Breaks Down invites us into the intimate conversations that happen in hospital rooms and outpatient clinics between patients and their doctors. These inspiring people continue to live their lives throughout this emotional journey and despite the odds against them, with courage and grace. The author, a leading cancer physician and researcher, celebrates the lives of his patients"--