This paper discusses the book My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story, by Abraham Verghese, specifically, the effect AIDS and its victims have on the doctor.
This paper reviews the story of Dr.Abraham Verghese, who specializes in infectious diseases, and his battle with AIDS in a small Tennessee town. The paper describes how Dr. Verghese treated his patients in an environment of fear that extended even into his own family. The author points out that the book presents a true insight into AIDS.
The case of Bobby Keller and Ed Maupin was especially interesting because of the further implications of their story. Ed and Bobby lived in a small town about 60 miles from the doctor’s office in Johnson City. They came to him because they were afraid to be treated or tested in their own town. They had lived together for about 10 years, and both had been married before and fathered children. Both of them tried to deny their homosexuality by marrying, but both of them found they could not live a lie. Having practiced unsafe sex with multiple partners, they both had contracted HIV.