A great read - "Unaccustomed Earth" and an update on the Rabies girl

Well, I couldn't stop myself from telling you all about the wonderful book I just finished, a collection of stories by Jhumpa Lahiri called Unaccustomed Earth. You may remember this accomplished author from her most recent book, also stories, Interpreter of Maladies. 

This lovely book has eight unrelated tales of people who are both bound by family structure and its complicated relationships and also alienated, each in his or her own way. Each story has its own memorable (if sometimes bewildering) characters and its own way of describing the process of coming together or falling apart or sometimes both. The families stretch to a community, usually of exiles, who stand in for far-off parents or grandparents, a refuge in a new world.

The writing is just beautiful, so careful, so descriptive. It took very little for me to get involved with these characters and want to follow each story to the end, which I did pretty quickly. This one is a keeper, I have no idea why it sat so long on my "to-read" shelf. Luckily, it won out over The Horse, the Wheel and Language, on my recent trip to Cincinnati as I loved it.

Now, for the update on the rabies girl, which I forgot to include in my last post. Those who were able to get to Jean's parent's LOVELY home (thanks again) may remember that RadioLab had a recent episode on a girl in Wisconsin who contracted rabies which unfortunately was not diagnosed until way too late.

Rabies is considered the most fatal disease; its mortality rate is 100%. This poor girl, only 15 or 16 years old developed odd symptoms that progressed very quickly from a tingling in her arm to double vision to almost comatose within weeks.

After exhausting all possibilities, her mother finally remembered she had been bitten by a bat. They hadn't thought much of it but obviously the bat was rabid. Doctors told her to take her daughter home to die.

Except for one doctor, an infectious disease specialist in Milwaukee, who took on the case and in doing so, reviewed 20 years of case studies on rabies. In one, he found an amazing ray of hope - this study determined that  rabies does not so much destroy the brain, as usually thought, but disrupts it. Sadly, it disrupts the base functions of the brain long enough to kill the patient. Autopsies showed not only an undamaged brain, but no rabies in the tissue around the brain.

So this doctor put the girl in a coma and had machines perform the functions the brain should, like breathing and ingesting water. AND she lived! And recovered, at least almost all of her functions. Of course, no one on record had recovered from rabies, so this treatment became known as the "Milwaukee Protocol" and has to date been used on 30 patients.

The good news is that 6 patients recovered, out of the 30, a big step up from everyone dying. The most interesting thing is that further study has found that the patients who recovered had enough antibody in their systems that they likely would have recovered anyway. So now doctors think rabies is 100% fatal...until it's not.

Here is the link to the RadioLab story. If you haven't listened before, give it a try, it is endlessly fascinating. http://www.radiolab.org/popup_player/# Rodney versus death.

Not necessarily proof but certainly a compelling experience

What an interesting and personal discussion we had this evening, all about Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander. Thanks to Jean for hosting in her parent's absolutely beautiful home, weren't we lucky she and Julie were able to negotiate a swap so that we can see them both these two months! Also thanks to everyone who contributed to a beautiful array of delicious food. Susan brought bags full of fresh yummy stuff like figs and Lynn had amazing fig treats. I need a fig tree!

Among us, many had met Dr. Alexander, a neurosurgeon from Lynchburg, or had heard him speak at one of his several Richmond appearances. Beryl and I had talked with him, me at some length during the Book and Author luncheon this past May. He is personally engaging, articulate and obviously convinced of his experiences. Catherine, Jean and Lynn all saw him at Reveille Church and came away with different opinions - Lynn skeptical, Jean and Catherine all in.

And that was in fact the way the group fell out on the book - with slightly more skeptics than believers but we all agreed that Dr. Alexander had this experience and is not fabricating a story, he is convinced this has happened to him. Kathy added in her sister's experiences from her many years as a hospice nurse which validated much of what he went through. At the same time, those universal types of experiences did not, to some of us, prove that heaven does exist, rather it was proof that we as humans travel the same pathways of human interaction and love, reaching for those we have loved, who made us feel secure,  as we experience the last surges of life.

There were many personal stories of deaths and near-deaths in our families that corresponded with the outlines of Dr. Alexander's story. The one consistent thread was the connection, often a physical one, with loved ones and how that made the difference. In Dr. Alexander's case, his family members made the decision to stay with him all day and night, holding his hand, speaking to him, encouraging him to come back. He talked about being pulled back, by those who still needed him, only to find out that his younger son was talking to him, asking him to come back during the last stages of his coma.

Dr. Alexander's experience in heaven gave him endless confidence that he was loved, that he didn't need to worry, that  all around him were there for him.His family had been with him during his coma all day and night every day, which could have created that feeling for him.  Catherine shared an incredible experience that she had with her younger son who was very ill at age 2 1/2. In her case, she climbed into his crib in the hospital, after days of a coma, hugged him and told him it was not his time to go... and he opened his eyes and said "hi, momma". The incredible power of love from those around us are indeed what we felt cause us to come back from the brink, or allow us to pass on with peace.

So do we believe him or not? The conclusion seemed to be that the afterlife is not a function of religion or ritual but instead a great connectedness in some way that creates a greater good, a larger purpose and a reason to exist or to expire. We didn't believe him, but we didn't discount him either. What a great night, thank you all!

On to more prosaic subjects, our next meeting is at Julie's on September 16 at 6:30 pm.  Our book is The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, another Book and Author find. Please let Julie know what you will bring along, let's hope it is warm enough for us to hang at her pool.

October's book is The Wife, by Meg Worlitzer, place to be determined. November is Haints by Clint McCown, is this author related to our own Dawn? If so, could she use her influence to get him to talk to us? I hope so!!

Thank you all for allowing me to be part of such a wonderful, thoughtful and intelligent group of readers. All the best to Sally Eddows, who is recovering from a mild concussion, we want to see you back next month!