Abraham Varghese My Own Country a Doctors Story

¶ … Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of AIDS" by Abraham Verghese. Specifically, it will contain a case on AIDS from the book, and discuss what is interesting and important about the case. Dr. Verghese's book is an emotional look at AIDS and how it can affect family, community, and even the physicians who care for AIDS patients.

Dr. Abraham Verghese is an Indian doctor who came to live and work in Johnson City Tennessee in 1985. Shortly before his arrival, the local hospital where he began to practice admitted its first AIDS patient, and almost overnight, an epidemic seemed to have smacked the small town in the Smoky Mountains. This book chronicles Dr. Verghese's encounters with his own AIDS patients, and how these people profoundly affected his life.

The case of Clyde and Vickie McCray is especially interesting because it not only illustrates just how little a couple can know about each other, it shows how a married couple deals with the specter of AIDS. Clyde is suffering from AIDS dementia, and admits he has had sex with other men. His wife Vickie vehemently denies this, but discovers it is true, and eventually, that she too has been infected by the virus. Vickie becomes Clyde's caregiver as he slips into a new childhood, and she discovers the community ostracizes them because of the disease. Vickie becomes active in the local AIDS support group even before Clyde dies, and the other members come to respect and care for her. She is a strong and opinionated woman who is vastly changed by the end of the book. She does not seem to be affected by the disease itself, but is profoundly affected by those who have suffered what her husband suffered. She enrolls in nursing school so she can take care of other AIDS patients, and Dr. Verghese is her staunchest supporter and friend throughout her ordeal. He becomes especially involved in the McCray's lives, and is exceptionally proud of Vickie when she changes her life with her new career.

This case is important because it illustrates just how involved Dr. Verghese became with his patients and their families, and just how much their stories meant to him personally. He is not a detached and unemotional doctor, and it shows in his work and his relationships with his patients. The surrounding community of his peers did not become involved in his work, and sometimes he felt his patients and their families were the only ones in the community who accepted him and his work. "What I didn't mention was how stressed I felt some days, how alienated I felt from other physicians, from friends, and even from my wife. By God, if what I was doing was noble, why did it feel like something...something shameful?" (Verghese 168). If he felt shameful, it is easy to imagine that his patients felt even worse, and were treated even worse by the community.

This case is especially emotional because of the family's reaction to it, and Vickie's eventual life-changing decision to become a nurse. Vickie forgave her husband for infecting her with the virus, and actually felt better about her life after her husband died, because she was doing something positive because of a very negative experience. It was a hopeful and moving story, and it illustrated how people can find positive results from even the most terrible situations. Vickie was a help to others with the disease, and a real role model for anyone who is studying the disease, or coping with the disease. She was a strong and strong-willed woman, who could have reacted very differently, and her story is motivational and moving.

This case made me think about how I would handle a debilitating and fatal disease such as AIDS, and wonder if I would handle it as gracefully as Vickie did. It also made me realize that the best doctors are those who understand and empathize with their patients, because they can create lasting bonds that can make profound changes in both their lives. Dr. Verghese is a doctor who is quite involved with his patients, and this makes all the difference in many cases. He is kind and compassionate, and this is the right way to maintain a practice, I think. I would rather a doctor be like Dr. Verghese than cold, unemotional, and removed. I would not have confidence in a doctor like that, and I would think that patients would not, either. This case ended with a happy and hopeful note, where most of them did not. It is clear Vickie was a special person, and that Dr. Verghese helped her find meaning in a difficult and emotional time, and helped her look forward to a new life.