A nephrologist and patient

Dr. Julian L. Seifter, 61, a nephrologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a Harvard Medical School professor, specializes in treating patients who have chronic kidney disease.

We spoke at his Harvard office for three hours about his new book, “After the Diagnosis: Transcending Chronic Illness,” which was written with his wife, Betsy Seifter. It’s about living with diabetes, heart disease, lupus, even AIDS. An edited version of that conversation and subsequent e-mails follows.