In this TV series, Luigi discovers he is ill and while he is waiting to see the doctor, his thoughts turn to his death, and how he would like his funeral to be.

Luigi discovers that not only is his oncologist young, but he is his first patient. Luigi and his wife are nervous but ready, while the department head seems to be more interested in her phone call.

Some patients are afraid to go home, to do things for themselves, but once they are well, they must. Luigi waits to sign the informed consent form before his operation. He hears about Doctor Zamagna who will be performing the surgery.

Doctor Policari brings the consent form, along with some seemingly paradoxical advice. Luigi's wife tries to get more information from this doctor, without success.

Luigi's wife reads the consent form. Meanwhile, Luigi gets prepped by different nurses for the operation he will have the next day.

It's the night before Luigi's operation. It's hard to sleep for various reasons, but he is resting, when Doctor Zamagna pays him a visit.

The morning of the operation has arrived and the nurse goes through a checklist with Luigi to make sure he is ready before being taken to the operating room.

It's time to go to the operating room. A priest arrives to give him an encouraging word, and Elena walks with him as far as she can. Luigi is still worried about his surgeon having jet lag.

As he is being wheeled towards the operating room, Luigi reflects on how the hierarchy of the hospital can be discerned by how people vent their anger and on whom.

The operation seems to have gone well, but forty-eight hours have to go by before they can be 100% sure.

Luigi is trying to rest, but it's not easy with a roommate who talks, and the feelings of nausea he is experiencing. He thinks out loud about how different doctors say different things regarding a patient's health.

Elena gets to talk to Luigi after the operation. The topic is resilience, a very important characteristic of the healing process.

The hospital personnel have a special relationship with the elevator. There is a new female walking the corridors and nobody fails to notice her. Doctor Zamagna goes to see Luigi.

Doctor Zamagna tells Luigi what he did during surgery, but although it went well, Luigi doesn't feel so great.

Even with all the activity swirling around, with the visitors, fellow patients, and doctors, Luigi feels very alone with his symptoms and his thoughts, just like anyone else who has undergone surgery.

The nurse is pretty mad at Amed and she says some things. Luigi makes the consideration that it's the nurses who keep the hospital going.

Elena finally gets to visit Luigi in the hospital and they talk about the situation. She brings him a little video made by Anita, their daughter.

Luigi wants his tube removed in the worst way. Only Zamagna can answer his questions.

Luigi recounts that typically, during the night in the ward, there is anger in the air, and, indeed, Luigi has to deal with an angry stressed-out nurse.

This episode begins with a flashback to when Luigi first notices blood in his urine. At the hospital, the priest is getting ready for his operation.

Luigi has plenty of time to observe the doctors as they make their rounds. They need to get in and out in a very short time.

Luigi realizes that the doctors have "pre-packaged" answers for the questions they get every day from patients There is s new patient sharing a room with Luigi. Peppe remembers everyone, but they don't remember him.

Luigi can't wait for the tube to be removed and expresses how grateful he would be to Doctor Policari... Peppe is still hoping someone will remember him from two years earlier.

Luigi complains that all he hears doctors and nurses say is, un passo alla volta (one step at a time). He would love a little optimism and reassurance.

Luigi has another conversation with Zamagna, but isn't sure if it is really him. Luigi is not out of the woods yet.

Doctor Rapisarda seems to want to be elsewhere other than making his rounds. Peppe Silvestri is about to be operated on. Luigi is asked how things are going now that the tube has been removed.

Peppe comes out of the operating room where all seems to have gone well. Luigi has a fever and the doctors are discussing the possible causes and what to do about it. Meanwhile Luigi feels he has to try to get out of bed, to prove to his body that he can.

Amed is worried that the replacement chaplain will come and start talking, and never stop. He'll "press play" and tell stories ad nauseam. But on the good side, Luigi's fever is going down, even though he doesn't feel great.

Elena tries to keep Luigi from getting too depressed about his situation. He then gets a taste of what his roommates had been telling him about the friar.

Father Costa just wants to be left alone and chases Friar Marcello away. Luigi finally has his catheter and drainage removed.

Luigi spends the night tossing and turning. In the morning, a nurse comes to get him for the CT scan, but then he has to wait and wait.

When Luigi finds out he could actually have had some water before his CT scan, he is totally demoralized. He talks about the different kinds of patients to be found in any hospital.

If Italian food culture is so famous the world over, Luigi wonders why it should be so bad in Italian hospitals.

Amed is convinced that the girl who had promised special food, a while back, was a figment of their imagination. He goes so far as to call the nurse to see if she remembers the girl.

Amed is obsessed with the idea of eating the right kind of food to fight cancer, but he goes a little too far.

Amed predicts Luigi's future, and Luigi has some visions. This segment reveals the meaning of the title of the show.

Luigi talks about getting old. Marcello talks about missing his restaurant and the work he loves.

Luigi tells us the fourth thing that demonstrates that a man has gotten old.

Riccardo's mother has made him all his favorite foods, but can't grasp that he is using a feeding tube. Luigi, on the other hand, is feeling better and is greatly appreciating being able to eat real food.

Luigi explains an unwritten rule at the hospital, and we see it in action. The priest is in crisi (having a hard time) and explains things to his roommate, who doesn't quite get it.

One doctor chooses to recite Baudelaire rather than listen to his patient. Luigi gets the results of the histological exam.

The doctor and Luigi finish discussing the results of his exam. The message is always the same, however. One step at a time. Captions 6-8 are a great example of how lei can mean different things and cause confusion.

A patient's hemoglobin count is very important. If it's high enough, a patient can make it to the hospital bar. But then?

Luigi makes it all the way to the bar, and once there, it is as his roommates predicted. He doesn't know what to order. He reflects on what metterci la testa (putting one's mind to it) means for him.

Luigi can't wait to get out of the hospital and is dreaming of drinking a toast once he's out. Amed puts on the brakes right away.

One of the patients has a curious conversation with his doctor about diet.

This episode begins with the funeral of a patient, in the hospital chapel.

Amed gets ready to leave the hospital. Luigi gets his stitches removed and talks to a doctor about what he'll have to do in the future.

It's time for Amed to leave the hospital, but he's not quite ready. There are various types of goodbyes happening.

Riccardo, the priest, is having a hard time. His mother is trying to help him in her way. Barbieri keeps bothering Giusi. The patient who seems to think he is a doctor gives Luigi some news.

Luigi has to listen to an interminable list of possible side effects to the drugs he will be taking. Could it be that he is actually going home?

Two of the doctors meet up in the hall and get into a spat about which job is more noble, that of an oncologist or that of a surgeon.

Luigi reflects on how so many Italians, though living in a marvelous place, would like to be somewhere else, do something else, etc. But there are exceptions.

Luigi continues reflecting on how his illness changed his life in various ways, not all of them negative. Un passo alla volta (one step at a time).

As he leaves the hospital with his wife, Luigi talks about how his perspective changed having had an experience such as he did.