The Physician Who Cured Himself (with Dr. David Fajgenbaum)
As a medical student, former college quarterback David Fajgenbaum, MD was at the peak of his health and physique when he suddenly came down with a mysterious disease that, within weeks, led to multiple organ system failure. Dr. Fajgenbaum found himself on the brink of death over and over again in the intensive care unit, at one point receiving his last rites, with all of his doctors baffled about the cause of his illness. When the culprit was eventually found to be Castleman Disease, a rare disease entity that to this day defies categorization, he took matters into his own hands, researching and testing treatments on himself before finally discovering his own cure. Today, Dr. Fajgenbaum is not only the co-founder of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, but is leading efforts to discover therapies for other rare diseases. He is the author of the 2019 memoir Chasing My Cure. In this riveting conversation, Dr. Fajgenbaum shares his incredible, inspiring story to turn hope into action.In this episode, you will hear about:How the loss of his mother to cancer led Dr. Fajgenbaum to pursue a career in medicine - 2:13The rapid deterioration from peak physical health to multiple organ system failure that struck Dr. Fajgenbaum - 6:04Dr. Fajgenbaum reflects on the terror of his unknown affliction and how he maintained resilience - 12:59How a brief remission gave Dr. Fajgenbaum an opportunity to turn passive hope into action - 21:47How a relapse led to a series of experimental treatments and a realization that his cure might already exist - 24:47How deep research and self-experimentation led to a breakthrough - 36:42Dr. Fajgenbaum’s nonprofit Every Cure and its mission to discover new uses of existing drugs - 42:02How Dr. Fajgenbaum feels when he cares for patients in similar plights to his own prior - 47:03What clinicians can do to comfort patients even when treatment options are limited - 51:37Advice to clinicians and students who are interested in medical research - 53:25Lessons on presence and compassion that Dr. Fajgenbaum has learned from having been both physician and patient - 56:32You can follow Dr. Fajgenbaum on Twitter @DavidFajgenbaum.Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to [email protected] The Doctor’s Art Podcast 2023