A review by refinishednurse
My Own Country: A Doctor's Story by Abraham Verghese

4.0

This is the first book I have read all the way through in quite a while, and it was my second attempt at reading it. I am so glad I did. It was intriguing. It describes the time in the late 1980's when AIDS is first encountered in rural America. It was gut wrenching to read of the medical crises the patients went through and the incredibly inhumane way they were treated. Dr. Verghese was called to treat these patients, but not without a personal toll. He paid for his compassion, knowledge and human decency in emotional pain and isolation. He learned all he could about the treatment of AIDS, HIV and the subsequent diseases, symptoms and problems that came along with it. He was not prepared for the emotional toll and social isolation he would encounter because he was treating these patients. This book fascinated me. I would caution that it is medically graphic. This did not bother me for the most part, as I am a nurse, but there were times that even I could "smell the smells and see the sights" a little too clearly. Thank you to my friend Beth for recommending it to me and loaning me her copy.

One of my favorite quotes, page 427, "It all happened so suddenly. I left my own country, my beloved Tennessee. Perhaps my perennial migrations, almost hereditary, are a way to avoid loss. With deep roots come great comforts. Yet deep attachments are the hardest to lose Maybe that is why drifters avoid them."