Gabrielle Drolet offers chronic pain memoir with ‘Look Ma, No Hands’

Freelance journalist and cartoonist Gabrielle Drolet is sharing her ordeal with chronic pain in Look Ma, No Hands.

“Very suddenly, within the span of a few months, I went from being fully mobile, zero pain, to struggling to brush my teeth or to write or to work,” Drolet said.

At first, the Montreal-based writer was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, but her pain indicated something more serious.

She adapted and wrote much of her book with voice-to-text technology.

Look Ma, No Hands looks at the humorous side of disability, such as informing a first date of one’s ailment.

“People don’t know how to respond to learning that someone has a disability, especially one that they can’t see,” Drolet told CTV News.

“So, I’ve been on a lot of dates where I find ways to mention that, you know, ‘Oh, by the way…’”

Drolet is in Calgary on Thursday, May 29, for a Wordfest event at the Memorial Park Library.