Few people think of diabetes as a humorous topic, but cartoonist and writer Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE, regularly mines the lighter side of the disease. An internationally known certified diabetes educator, she got into cartooning “to create positive images of diabetes while promoting subtle educational messages. It is my attempt to put the ‘art’ into the art and science of nursing.”
The author and illustrator of DIABETease: A lighter look at the serious side of diabetes, Theresa lectures nationwide about diabetes self-management and the importance of humor in diabetes education. Her cartoons and writings have appeared in diabetes journals, websites, and other media, including dLife, Diabetes Health, Diabetes Monitor, Diabetes In Control, Diabetes PRESENTS, Defeat Diabetes Foundation, LifeScan, TheraSense, and Anodyne. She received the 2004-2005 Diabetes Educator of the Year Award from the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the Allene Van Son Award for Best Education Tool for her cartoons.
Currently, Theresa is writing Your First Year with Diabetes: What to Do Month by Month for the American Diabetes Association, to be released later this year. A San Francisco resident, she oversees the Center for Diabetes Services at the California Pacific Medical Center in that city. For more information, visit www.tgarnero.com.

To see Ms. Garnero’s work please download the article.