M. Rose, 28; Doctor’s Cancer Struggle Played Out on TV

Dr. Marnie Rose, who allowed viewers of the reality television series “Houston Medical” to witness her battle with brain cancer, has died. She was 28.

She died Friday afternoon at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after being hospitalized the day before with pneumonia, said her mother, Lanie Rose.

Marnie Rose, a pediatric resident at Memorial Hermann Hospital, appeared on the six-week summer series on ABC and made a dramatic first impression when she pulled off her wig to reveal that she was not only a doctor but also a patient.

In the last episode, which aired July 23, viewers learned that Rose’s tumor had returned, and that its form--a glioblastoma--was particularly bad.

“Marnie Rose’s dedication to her patients, her wry sense of humor and her love of friends and family made her an inspiration to all of us at Memorial Hermann and to the millions of viewers of ‘Houston Medical,’ ” said Beth Sartori, speaking on behalf of the hospital.

Rose said in May that she agreed to be on the TV program because “it would be a good chance to let other people see that a positive attitude can help, and that they’re not alone out there.”

Rose grew up in the Houston area and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a second-year resident at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.

Throughout the day Friday, her mother said, Rose’s hospital room saw a stream of visitors: doctors, friends, other residents from the medical school.

“The show is certainly not a chronicle of Marnie’s decline, but rather a celebration of her life--and it was a fabulous life,” said Lou Gorfain, an executive producer of the program. “It was full of courage, hope, humor and beauty.”