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A life lived with type 1 diabetes and a cast of talking lancets
In Focus
Book A life lived with type 1 diabetes and a cast of talking lancets around major holidays, and the mental exhaustion arising from the never-ending need to balance carbohydrates, insulin, and exercise— “Like any trained juggler, the diabetic makes mathematical multitasking look like it’s part of the act”. Indeed. In her first book, One Lump or Two? Things that suck about being diabetic, Merritt’s cartoons looked more or less like people. In FingerPricks, her characters are talking fingerstick lancets with the caps for heads and just one eye apiece. Yet they are undeniably human, as when one says “How about every time we eat I remind you to do a blood test?” and the other replies “How about every time you remind me I’m diabetic I bite off one of your fingers?” In the accompanying text Merritt elaborates, “Don’t be surprised if your helpful attempts to encourage your diabetic friend or loved one are met with gushy gratitude one minute and snappy irritability the next.” Although the book clearly isn’t a medical reference, her detailed
and accurate summary of diabetes and dental problems should be mandatory reading for every doctor and dentist who cares for people with diabetes. How many consider that night-time hypoglycemia leads to tooth decay? Throughout the book, Merritt borders on bitter but ultimately steps back from that line, as when one of her talking lancets asks “Is there ever a time when your diabetes doesn’t seem so bad?” The other replies, “Sure, happy hour”.
Published Online June 13, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S2213-8587(16)30139-5 FingerPricks: small, quick, and only slightly painful Haidee Soule Merritt Bird Wing Press, 2016. $18.00, pp 152. ISBN 978-0982256114
Miriam E Tucker Miriam E Tucker is a medical journalist who has also lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 40 years.
Haidee Soule Merritt
Haidee Soule Merritt
Haidee Soule Merritt
When you’ve lived with type 1 diabetes as long as Haidee Soule Merritt, you have the right to complain. Actually, that’s true even if you’ve only lived with it a day, but you probably wouldn’t be able to vent in the same quirky, entertaining, and painfully thought-provoking way Merritt does in her second book, FingerPricks. Merritt’s collection of cartoons and commentary relating to life with diabetes will resonate with many who live with type 1 diabetes and probably some with type 2 diabetes as well. To be sure, it’s about her diabetes— she was diagnosed as a child and has lived with the disorder for more than 40 years—but much of the stuff she and her cartoonfolk say will make you laugh, nod, shake your head, or think “Gee, I hadn’t thought of it that way”. Type 1 diabetes isn’t pretty, and Merritt illustrates that in a way that no medical textbook ever could. She expresses with clarity and dark humour the fear of low blood sugar, the food-related struggles
www.thelancet.com/diabetes-endocrinology Vol 4 October 2016
819
Book A life lived with type 1 diabetes and a cast of talking lancets around major holidays, and the mental exhaustion arising from the never-ending need to balance carbohydrates, insulin, and exercise— “Like any trained juggler, the diabetic makes mathematical multitasking look like it’s part of the act”. Indeed. In her first book, One Lump or Two? Things that suck about being diabetic, Merritt’s cartoons looked more or less like people. In FingerPricks, her characters are talking fingerstick lancets with the caps for heads and just one eye apiece. Yet they are undeniably human, as when one says “How about every time we eat I remind you to do a blood test?” and the other replies “How about every time you remind me I’m diabetic I bite off one of your fingers?” In the accompanying text Merritt elaborates, “Don’t be surprised if your helpful attempts to encourage your diabetic friend or loved one are met with gushy gratitude one minute and snappy irritability the next.” Although the book clearly isn’t a medical reference, her detailed
and accurate summary of diabetes and dental problems should be mandatory reading for every doctor and dentist who cares for people with diabetes. How many consider that night-time hypoglycemia leads to tooth decay? Throughout the book, Merritt borders on bitter but ultimately steps back from that line, as when one of her talking lancets asks “Is there ever a time when your diabetes doesn’t seem so bad?” The other replies, “Sure, happy hour”.
Published Online June 13, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S2213-8587(16)30139-5 FingerPricks: small, quick, and only slightly painful Haidee Soule Merritt Bird Wing Press, 2016. $18.00, pp 152. ISBN 978-0982256114
Miriam E Tucker Miriam E Tucker is a medical journalist who has also lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 40 years.
Haidee Soule Merritt
Haidee Soule Merritt
Haidee Soule Merritt
When you’ve lived with type 1 diabetes as long as Haidee Soule Merritt, you have the right to complain. Actually, that’s true even if you’ve only lived with it a day, but you probably wouldn’t be able to vent in the same quirky, entertaining, and painfully thought-provoking way Merritt does in her second book, FingerPricks. Merritt’s collection of cartoons and commentary relating to life with diabetes will resonate with many who live with type 1 diabetes and probably some with type 2 diabetes as well. To be sure, it’s about her diabetes— she was diagnosed as a child and has lived with the disorder for more than 40 years—but much of the stuff she and her cartoonfolk say will make you laugh, nod, shake your head, or think “Gee, I hadn’t thought of it that way”. Type 1 diabetes isn’t pretty, and Merritt illustrates that in a way that no medical textbook ever could. She expresses with clarity and dark humour the fear of low blood sugar, the food-related struggles
www.thelancet.com/diabetes-endocrinology Vol 4 October 2016
819