Authors: Elizabeth Camden

With Every Breath (40 page)

“It means you’re going to see many amazing things,” Trevor said as he hoisted their daughter higher in his arms, his face flushed with excitement.

And Kate knew it was true. They lived in an era when it wasn’t so strange for girls to aspire to an education, and if their daughter wanted to go to college, it was going to happen. Every day the newspapers touted new discoveries and inventions. Automobiles were beginning to appear on the streets of Washington, and the race to create the first flying machine was well under way. Medical discoveries would continue to progress and make life better for everyone. Someday there would be a cure for tuberculosis, and she prayed Trevor would be there to witness it.

She stepped into Trevor’s arms and dreamed of the world to come.

Historical Note

T
uberculosis was the leading cause of death in American cities in the late nineteenth century. In a desperate search for a cure, research doctors experimented with injections of mercury, arsenic, creosote, copper, and lime in an attempt to kill the disease without harming the patient. Barbaric surgeries removed sections of lung or immobilized the patients for months or even years. None of these treatments proved effective. From the 1880s through the 1930s, the best hope for tubercular patients was a lengthy stay at rural sanitariums in mountain climates. Patients were encouraged to lie outside, even in frigid winter conditions, and breathe in as much of the high, dry air as possible. Medical historians now believe the success achieved at sanitariums was a combination of fresh air, improved nutrition, and, to a certain extent, the benefits of vitamin D derived from exposure to sunlight.

Tuberculosis wasn’t cured until the mid-1940s with the creation of streptomycin, an antibiotic developed in the medical laboratories at Rutgers University. Antibiotics proved highly effective against tuberculosis, curing the disease quickly, effectively,
and inexpensively. For decades the menace of tuberculosis was considered a scourge of the past. Sadly, the miracle of antibiotics led to a sense of complacency, so that by the 1980s a resurgence in new cases of tuberculosis began spreading throughout the world. Many of these cases indicate resistance to traditional antibiotic treatments. Increased awareness, better drug combinations, and follow-up care are helping to turn the tide once again.

I was inspired to write this book after reading a fascinating memoir by Edward Livingston Trudeau (1848–1915), a doctor who contracted tuberculosis while treating his dying brother. Dr. Trudeau was the first to pioneer the concept of sanitarium care in America, and he lived with tuberculosis for over forty years before finally dying of the disease. In the closing pages of his memoir, when he knew he had only a few weeks to live, he wrote: “The struggle with tuberculosis has brought me experiences and left me recollections which I never could have known otherwise, and I would not exchange it for all the wealth of the Indies! While struggling to save others, it has enabled me to make the best friends a man ever had. . . . I have learned that the conquest of Fate is not by struggling against it, but by acquiescence; that it is often through men that we come to know God; that spiritual courage is of a higher type than physical courage; and that it takes a higher type of courage to fight a losing rather than a winning fight.”

Discussion Questions

When Trevor first arrived to America, Mrs. Kendall taught him to hide his disease, as she knew they would both be turned out of the house if her employer realized they had tuberculosis. Was this an immoral thing for her to do? Why or why not?
As is often the case with shy or introverted people, Trevor is perceived as aloof and unfriendly. Is there anyone in your life whom you might be making a similar assumption about?
Dinner at the boardinghouse was a major factor that drew people to live at the Norton Boardinghouse due to the networking and friendships that could be formed around the dining room table. What role does the dinner table play in your family?
People often wonder how a loving God could permit tragedies to befall innocent victims. Kate finally accepts she doesn’t understand everything in God’s plan and decides to stop fretting about things beyond her ability to comprehend. How do you grapple with this question?
Kate is scolded by an attendant who overhears her remark about “meaningful work.” How often throughout a typical day do you accept service from people in thankless tasks? How might you infuse that brief interaction with a sign that you respect and are grateful for their work?
Tick accuses Kate of smothering him, but isn’t the proper role for a parent or mentor to provide guidance to young people, who often don’t know enough to spot the problems around the corner? At what point should you retreat and let them make mistakes?
Do you agree with Trevor’s insistence on staying in a job that carries unique physical dangers for him? Should he have chosen a safer field, especially after he married and had children of his own?
This book was inspired by doctors and nurses who risk their lives to treat people with lethally contagious diseases. Dr. Edward Trudeau (1848–1915), a physician who contracted tuberculosis during the course of his work, wrote that “spiritual courage is of a higher type than physical courage; and that it takes a higher type of courage to fight a losing rather than a winning fight.” Do you agree with these statements? Have you undertaken losing battles in your life that were still worth the fight?

Elizabeth Camden
is the award-winning author of five novels, including
Against
the Tide
(2012), winner of a RITA Award, Christy Award, and Daphne du Maurier Award. With a master’s in History and a master’s in Library Science, she is a research librarian by day and scribbles away on her next novel by night. Elizabeth lives with her husband in Florida. Learn more at ElizabethCamden.com.

Books by Elizabeth Camden

The Lady of Bolton Hill

The Rose of Winslow Street

Against the Tide

Into the Whirlwind

With Every Breath