Cartoons to Empower Type-I Diabetics

Artist’s Book Promotes Humor as Means of Managing Life With Diabetes

Mar 18, 2009 Andrew Leibs

In this interview, Haidee Merritt discuses her collection One Lump or Two?, in which she seeks to turn diabetes' denial and debilitation into life-affirming irreverence.

Diabetes blinded Haidee Merritt for over a year. She had a white cane, talking watch, and read braille. “I had no idea if I was ever going to see again,” says Merritt, an artist and gardener from Kittery, Maine.

Her vision faded, and the surgeries began: vacuuming scar tissue off her retina, anchoring one eye with a silicone band. Merritt's response was to draw cartoons on what it’s like to live with Diabetes.

The result is One Lump or Two: Things that Suck About Being Diabetic (Bird Wing Press, $12): a collection in which Merritt trades denial for humor as a means of coping with Diabetes. The cartoons explore Diabetes (e.g. dietary restrictions, glucose testing; and mood swings) and constitute a cultural study of the Diabetic lifestyle useful to anyone seeking to understand it.

One Lump or Two: Things that Suck About Being Diabetic

Few diseases seem less humorous. Diabetes can result in blindness, amputation, and spiking blood sugar that can induce coma. At best, it’s is a lifelong struggle to balance diet, exercise, and insulin. But as Merritt says, “Diabetes has taken a lot from my life; I owe it no reverence.”

What was it like growing up diabetic?

When I was diagnosed, the doctor told my parents not to get attached or let my brothers get attached to me, or take pictures of me because as I wouldn’t live past age seven. Diabetes shaped my life. School was hard; my sugar was low all the time; I had panic attacks.

What was your approach to cartooning?

I made them as crude as possible. They got better as my vision returned. It wasn’t about the art so much as the message. I wanted to get it out there and walk away from it.

Did you fear readers might resent making light of Diabetes?

No. My cartoons are not for the newly diagnosed, not a how-to book, but meant to be shared with those who have lived with Diabetes for some time. I liken it to sitting with young mothers, all talking about their kids. I smile and nod, but can’t really join in, though I’m amazed how enthralled each one is by the others’ experiences; diabetes is sort of like that: you can tell stories, but most non-diabetics aren’t going to get it. I laugh because I’m a diabetic: a doctor wanted to take my toe off — didn’t want to wait to see if it might heal. Experiences like that are terrifying, but also sort of funny.

What’s the hardest thing about living with Diabetes?

One effect is financial: Diabetes is expensive because you have it forever. Insulin costs $90 a bottle and I need at least two each month. I’ve needed insulin every day since I was two.

What strategies have helped you cope?

Now, working alone, doing art and landscaping, I can listen to my body and control my environment as much as possible. It’s the best thing. The cartoons are a break in my normal art routine, which includes restoring lamps and illustrating (lots of insects, especially dragonflies and botanicals).

What are your hopes for this book?

I want all Diabetes to have a copy so they can share a few laughs and know they’re not alone. I want people to know it's not me complaining about how Diabetes has wrecked my life, but how confronting the disease has enabled me to accept and embrace it. If you’ve screwed up and it’s been hard for you, you’ve got to come out the other side, own up to it, and live with it. Humor helps that process.

Merritt hopes her book builds a fan base that will enable her to publish additional cartoon collections.

The copyright of the article Cartoons to Empower Type-I Diabetics in Accessible Recreation is owned by Andrew Leibs. Permission to republish Cartoons to Empower Type-I Diabetics in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Haidee Merritt Holds Copy of One Lump or Two?