• Home
  • About
    ▼
    • What is Graphic Medicine?
    • Graphic Medicine International Collective
      ▼
      • GMIC Board Resources
    • Website Team
    • Related Sites
      ▼
      • Medicina Grafica
      • Japanese Graphic Medicine Association
      • Pathographics
  • Latest
    ▼
    • News
    • The Graphic Medicine Award
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • Spotlight Archive
  • Reviews
    ▼
    • All
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Graphic Novels
    • Educational
    • Manga
    • Write A Review!
  • Conferences
    ▼
    • 2023 Toronto Conference
    • 2022 Chicago Conference
    • 2021 UnConvention (Virtual) Conference
    • 2020 Toronto Conference
    • 2019 Brighton Conference
    • 2018 Vermont Conference
    • 2017 Seattle Conference
      ▼
      • Home
      • Program
      • Registration (NOW CLOSED)
      • Lodging in Seattle
      • 2017 Seattle Conference Sponsors
      • Call for Art
      • Press/Media Inquiries
    • 2016 Dundee Conference
    • 2015 Riverside Conference
    • 2014 Baltimore Conference
      ▼
      • Home
      • Program 2014
        ▼
        • Program 2014
        • Keynote Speakers 2014
        • Marketplace 2014
        • Juried Exhibit 2014
        • Call for Papers 2014 (closed)
      • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        ▼
        • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Additional hotel suggestions
      • Sponsors 2014
      • Baltimore Restaurants & Attractions
      • FAQs 2014
      • Registration 2014 (closed)
    • 2013 Brighton Conference
    • 2012 Toronto Conference
    • 2011 Chicago Conference
    • 2010 London Conference
  • MultiMedia
    ▼
    • Podcasts
    • Graphic Medicine Video Archive
    • Graphic Medicine Exhibits
  • Resources
    ▼
    • Essential Graphic Medicine: An Annotated Bibliography
    • COVID-19 Comics
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • National Library of Medicine Graphic Medicine Exhibit
    • Liaison Program
    • Publishers
    • RESEARCH
    • TEACHING
    • GRAPHIC MEDICINE CONFAB ARCHIVE
  • Merch/Support
    ▼
    • Bookshop Store
    • 2021 Un-Convention MERCH
    • 2022 Conference Merch
    • RedBubble Store
    • DONATE
  • Contact
    ▼
    • Contact Form/Email
    • Social Media
Graphic Medicine
  • Home
  • About
    • What is Graphic Medicine?
    • Graphic Medicine International Collective
      • GMIC Board Resources
    • Website Team
    • Related Sites
      • Medicina Grafica
      • Japanese Graphic Medicine Association
      • Pathographics
  • Latest
    • News
    • The Graphic Medicine Award
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • Spotlight Archive
  • Reviews
    • All
    • Editor’s Picks
    • Graphic Novels
    • Educational
    • Manga
    • Write A Review!
  • Conferences
    • 2023 Toronto Conference
    • 2022 Chicago Conference
    • 2021 UnConvention (Virtual) Conference
    • 2020 Toronto Conference
    • 2019 Brighton Conference
    • 2018 Vermont Conference
    • 2017 Seattle Conference
      • Home
      • Program
      • Registration (NOW CLOSED)
      • Lodging in Seattle
      • 2017 Seattle Conference Sponsors
      • Call for Art
      • Press/Media Inquiries
    • 2016 Dundee Conference
    • 2015 Riverside Conference
    • 2014 Baltimore Conference
      • Home
      • Program 2014
        • Program 2014
        • Keynote Speakers 2014
        • Marketplace 2014
        • Juried Exhibit 2014
        • Call for Papers 2014 (closed)
      • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Accommodation & Travel 2014
        • Additional hotel suggestions
      • Sponsors 2014
      • Baltimore Restaurants & Attractions
      • FAQs 2014
      • Registration 2014 (closed)
    • 2013 Brighton Conference
    • 2012 Toronto Conference
    • 2011 Chicago Conference
    • 2010 London Conference
  • MultiMedia
    • Podcasts
    • Graphic Medicine Video Archive
    • Graphic Medicine Exhibits
  • Resources
    • Essential Graphic Medicine: An Annotated Bibliography
    • COVID-19 Comics
    • The Drawing Together Archive
    • National Library of Medicine Graphic Medicine Exhibit
    • Liaison Program
    • Publishers
    • RESEARCH
    • TEACHING
    • GRAPHIC MEDICINE CONFAB ARCHIVE
  • Merch/Support
    • Bookshop Store
    • 2021 Un-Convention MERCH
    • 2022 Conference Merch
    • RedBubble Store
    • DONATE
  • Contact
    • Contact Form/Email
    • Social Media
Home / Comic Reviews / Graphic Novels / Probably Nothing: A Diary of Not Your Average Nine Months

Probably Nothing: A Diary of Not Your Average Nine Months

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Author: Matilda Tristram

Format: hardcover

Pages: not paginated

Publish Date: Summer 2014

Publisher: Penguin/Viking

Where to buy: http://www.amazon.com/Probably-Nothing-diary-not-your-average-months/dp/0241004152

Author website: http://www.mmaattiillddaa.com

Review

guest review and response illustration by Northwestern medical student Runjhun Bhatia

Probably Nothing is, when you initially read the summary, a depressing concept. Nine months of pregnancy compounded by bowel cancer, you think. Or perhaps vice versa. How awful. The graphic novel is a simplistically drawn diary-like account of having cancer and being pregnant. Matilda’s experience could probably be a good insight for anyone with cancer or for a woman who is pregnant.

The graphic novel is exhaustive — though the drawings are not detailed, the detail Matilda goes into about her life throughout these circumstances is extensive. It becomes evident through her experience that having cancer and being pregnant has taken over her identity. She mentions her former job description of teaching animation once. However, it is an intercession that is surprising and incongruent with the perception the reader forms of her in the initial pages of the book. It is clear that cancer has made her dependent on others and pregnancy furthers that dependence. When her child is born, some of that dependence starts to wane, she begins to mention her career again, and of course her child is now dependent on her. It seems that her newborn helps her return to some semblance of normalcy, but of course, she can’t be completely normal again until her scans come back clear.

Reflecting on this comic book, it would be a great read for someone trying to understand what they might have to go through with cancer. They might have to become advocates for themselves — indeed at one point, Matilda nearly dies from something doctors aren’t able to catch until she and her husband are positively nagging them for an MRI.  The entire thing takes place in London, so of course there will be geographic and cultural differences, but the book will provide emotional solidarity to those having to go through the experience of having cancer and undergoing chemo.
Matilda doesn’t shy away from topics like bowel movements, difficult decisions she has to make about her care, or even mundane things like ordering colostomy bags. In its almost monotonous, diary-like approach, dealing with the “boring” facts of real life, the book is infinitely engaging. When you have an illness, that’s what you want to know — you want to know how you will survive each and every day. When a woman has survived such a seemingly hopeless situation, my curiosity leads me to ask how she lived her day to day life. As a future doctor, satiating this curiosity takes on another dimension, because I hope to successfully guide my patients in navigating the emotional repercussions of physical illness and its treatment. This book is highly satiating in that regard.Matilda also seems to invite others to use the method she has for coping. Her illustrations, after all, are nothing that elicit feelings of unapproachability; with her simplistic style of drawing and the colors that leave the lines, she seems to be remarking that anyone can do it.
Probably 1

Daily Mail story about Probably Nothing here.

Comments

  1. Matilda says

    Feb. 16, 2015 at 2:23 pm

    Hello Runjhun, just posted on Facebook before I noticed I could post here… I don’t think having cancer and being pregnant completely took over my identity. There’s a lot in the comic about carrying on doing all the things I did before I got ill; going to exhibitions, seeing friends (and importance of talking with them about things other than cancer), going for long walks around London, reading, singing, cooking, making things, shopping, planning, going to the theatre and museums. Re advice for future patients, trying to carry on enjoying doing and noticing normal things, in spite of the cancer, was what helped me cope with it all. I didn’t mention more about my job as a teacher more because it’s not very interesting! But thanks for the review and drawing 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Graphic Medicine

Graphic Medicine is a site that explores the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare. We are a community of academics, health carers, authors, artists, and fans of comics and medicine. The site is maintained by an editorial team under the direction of the Graphic Medicine International Collective.

Subscribe to Graphic Medicine

Join our email list to keep up with the latest Graphic Medicine news!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Visit Our Sister Site for Spanish Readers

Visit Our Sister Site for Japanese Readers

Visit Our Sister Site for Italian Readers

Visit the Pathographics Project

© 2007 - 2022 Graphic Medicine International Collective

WordPress Developer