Borrowed Time: A Surgeon's Struggle with Transfusion-Induced AIDS

Susan Massarella is a reference librarian at the Laurentian University.

Orville J. Messenger is a thoracic surgeon who in 1985, at the age of
42, survived major heart surgery, only to discover that during the
surgery he had received an HIV-tainted blood transfusion. After being
diagnosed with HIV, he ended his career as a surgeon due to his fear of
contaminating a patient. Borrowed Time is the Messengers’ account of
how the illness affected their lives and the lives of their four
children.

Initially, Dr. Messenger—a devout Christian who sees his HIV
infection as the ultimate test of faith—chose to keep his diagnosis
secret, so that his family would be able to lead a relatively normal
life. But the secrecy put a tremendous strain on the family as they
tried to appear as if nothing was amiss. With this book they have broken
their silence and, in a simple, straight-forward manner, told their
compelling story.