I want to thank you for your brilliant creation. I love it. The pee pee chant/dance is a hoot, even though it is serious. I can’t wait for the next chapter.
Thanks, Luis!
The pee pee chant is actually inspired by Gene Kelly singing “Gotta Dance” in “Singin’ in the Rain.” But I say why not swap out “dance” with “pee” for that full-throated “GOTTA PEE! GOTTA PEE!”
Worth of the classic Mad Magazine movie paradise. When it rains, I “GOTTA PEE! GOTTA PEE!” Even without diabetes. My mother said she potty trained me with running water, thanks, Mom.
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Lisa, I really liked issue #4 too!
Yes I also remember the first week in the hospital being informed that I have to eat the food they bring me, no matter whether I like it or not, because if I don’t eat it then I’ll go low. And I’m like, wait, eating is bad and not eating is bad.
I also remember them forcing me to down the “ADA approved” hypo remedy of orange juice spiked with extra sugar. Ugh. To this day I despise the thought of any orange juice.
Don’t know if this is part of your personal story but my 1980’s diagnosis “education” consisted in part of a nurse coming in (pretty sure I was still hooked to IV’s at the time) with a textbook filled with pictures of gangrenous limbs.
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I remember that orange “juice” it was putrid. I don’t think there was any orange juice it it. It was a bottle imitation orange flavored chemicals and sugar.
In the hospital, I was told I would be giving up all my favorite foods. Food will go from pleasurable to fuel only. It’s that or be blind and on dialysis.
I was given a book about the horrors of diabetes. It seemed almost comical. At the end it said “ insulin will let you live long enough to wish you were dead “.
Mmm the 80s were awesome.
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I remember the orange juice, too. I had a 4-pack in my school desk. Weird, thick metal cans, like the kind you need a can opener to open, but with foil pull tabs… And a hunk of saran wrap containing a spoonful of sugar taped to each can. Did we not have sugar packets back then?
(Why is this the only social media platform that makes me feel old??? “I remember when, back in the day…”)
Thanks, Tim!
OMG, gangrenous limbs?! I guess their methods back then were some kind of “scared straight” idea–scare the crap out of those rebellious teenagers and they’ll behave themselves? Good lord.
Jeez, that book sounds harsh! That ending line made me laugh, though. One thing diabetes has given me is a dark sense of humor.
I remember I was given a list of things I was absolutely not allowed to eat, and to drive the point home, there was a skull and crossbones at the top of the sheet.
I know, isn’t it funny?
On the other hand, I like to think about that stuff and realize how far treatment has come for diabetics in the meantime. That’s part of the reason why I wrote Chronic.
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This week’s continuing saga of CHRONIC is out! In Chronic #4, during her hospital stay after her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis, Elle meets two potential allies — one human, one otherworldly…
This week’s free chapter of CHRONIC is available for reading!
In this chapter, Elle and her ghostly grandmother take a trip back to the Allen Physiatric Institute in 1922, before insulin was available and diabetic patients were put on starvation diets.
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Be still my heart, not an early release. Keep us on bated breath as we await the next edition. 
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Hey, everyone! This week’s issue of Chronic is up! In Chapter 4, it’s November 1980, Day 2 of Elle’s hospital stay. We meet Elle’s unusual new friend, Carrie Anne; Elle discovers the thrills of practicing insulin injections on an innocent orange; making faces at babies in the nursery; and Disco Dude gyrates on the hospital closed-circuit tv channel.
Please subscribe—it’s free, and each week a new chapter is delivered to your email inbox (check your spam folder if you don’t see your copy).
This week’s Chonic chapter, up and running. Chapter Five: What foods would you eat if you could eat anything?
From the narrative I wrote accompanying this week’s entry:
On my first night home after that week in the hospital, my dear parents were nervous about what would happen next without a hospital nurse hanging around making the medical decisions.
I bet yours were, too.
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Hi everyone! Chronic’s Chapter 6 is up and ready for reading! This week: Nurse Maggie, The Clash, and being a badass.
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Be still my heart 
I love nurse Maggie
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Hey, all! Here’s Chronic Chapter 7: “Orange” for interested eyeballs:
In this week’s edition, Elle confronts the dreaded syringe, and a visit back to 1922 shows how the Institute patients escaped their situation.
Hi everybody! Chronic is back from its August hiatus with “Chapter 8: Escape.” I hope you enjoy it and that the book helps you in some way. ~Lisa
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Thanks, I’ve been in withdrawal.
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