October 23 – Facing Prejudice

Today, I experienced, first hand, blatant prejudice against someone with HIV. I knew it existed, but today I got a chance to see what Robin faces. Robin jumped to my defense as a patient decided that he didn’t want me to do his surgery because of my HIV exposure. He took his chances with another doctor and he died on the table. What a useless waste of a life . . . all because he couldn’t see past his own fear of HIV and AIDS.

I see now why Robin decided not to be a surgeon. She says it’s because she didn’t want her patients to have to choose between getting the proper care and their fear of her HIV. I was quick to judge her when we first met and I can only attribute it to ignorance. Robin knows first hand what it is to live with HIV. She coached me on what I need to do to make sure that my patients get the care they need. In the process, she gave me more compliments than she ever has. I know that she’s worried about me, and I like that. In fact, I like it a lot. How’d I get so fortunate?