Burden: A Year of Journals from Someone Living with Chronic Illness

by Jackie Norton

Two weeks fresh out of the hospital from a heart scare, dealing with long COVID, pots, a flare-up from my autoimmune disease, and three infected ulcers, while having to move out on my own, is where my memoir starts.

Month by month, I wrote down in real time what it was like to transition from being a normal, active member of society to someone who couldn’t leave their house without assistance. All because I got a virus.

Quickly realizing how society, friends, and family started treating me differently, I decided to journal my everyday experiences in my new body, in hopes of giving people a new perspective.

With honest words, light-hearted illustrations, humor, and grit, these journals unearth the secrets of living with chronic illness and how it changes everything.

240 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2025

About the author

Hello everyone 👋
I’m jackie! I started writing to be able to share my journey with chronic illness with the world. I’m from Salem Massachusetts, and am currently enrolled in a creative writing major in university. I have my debut novel “Burden” available for preorder now. I also have other publications you can find on my social media. (@jackieenorton)

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve loved every second of these series of journal entries from another fellow chronically ill folk who’s now become my friend. She spoke the truths of living with multiple chronic illnesses and how every day could look different. She touched upon C-PTSD from horrendous medical experiences that we never process fully but continue to sweep under the rug to process the next thing to come up in our bodies.

She talks about the loneliness we experience and the negative self-talk we constantly battle within ourselves because we’re not living the lives that able-bodied persons are and how society would want us to.

She talks about the important of the online community and connection in getting through the hard and finding people that love you for being you and will never leave you when times get hard. She says if that’s not something we have, then to find them like she did with her Salem book club.

She mentions how one day can look vastly different from the next and how we’re nervous to post on socials for that reason because then we’d get questioned if we were truly sick in the first place. How we’re able to venture to the movie theatre’s one day and be bed-ridden the next. But, that’s just it. That’s the truth and life living with chronic illness. I, for the longest time, wouldn’t post on Instagram for that reason cause I didn’t want to not be believed if I was well one day and the other back scheduled programming of being sick again.

She talks about the struggles of financial burdens that can cause a chronically ill person to cancel plans and how not having a job due to our chronic conditions can make us feel like a burden, but how we never asked for this, nor wanted this.

Body grief was also mentioned in the book and how it’s ok that we’ll never return to our old life or our old bodies, but accepting where we are and how much we survived to date.

I particularly loved the letter at the end embedded in her final January journal entry where she speaks out to the caregivers of the world and how commendable they are and to also remind them not to make us feel more of a burden than we already do and to build us up and not tear us down like society already does to us. I loved that piece so much and was the perfect ending to an amazing memoir. <3

I LOVE YOU, Jackie. Thank you for your vulnerability and reminding me that I’m never alone, loved, and deeply cared for.

[Jaden Brunetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

i breezed through this book, reading it front to back in just one evening. this is the perfect read for your rest or bedridden days, especially if you suffer from needing to feel "productive" in order to rest. jackie perfectly captures what it's like to live day to day as a disabled person in such a raw way. this book feels like sitting down to talk with someone who just *gets it*. if you're newly disabled, or struggling to grieve your ideas of a future or your past due to disability, this is for you.

[Brandi Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not have this particular chronic illness as the author of this fabulous book, but I still resonated with things she said. It also opened my eyes to the world of chronic illness and how deeply it can affect a person in ways you can’t imagine unless you have experienced it. I’m excited to read more of this authors work in the future.

[Tori M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought me to tears. As someone with chronic illness, this is so beautiful and well written. It makes me feel seen and everything I feel is explained in a way I could never express with words. I highly recommend whether you have chronic illness or not.

[Smith P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir captures the reality of chronic illness in a way I’ve never seen before. It’s raw, it’s honest, but it’s also filled with humor and hope. I laughed and cried in the same chapter.

[Camirina · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. A poignant, heartfelt depiction of what it is like to live with chronic illness, inspiring a resilience that is rarely talked about, let alone revered as it should be. As someone who had to take a debilitating medication for 5 years, completely uprooting my life, there were many passages that resonated with me deeply. However, as someone who does not have a chronic illness, this novel was eye-opening in a way that makes me want to preach quotes from it on city street like a religious missionary so that I may open the eyes of others who might otherwise be unaware of the challenges faced by the disabled community. This novel and Jackie’s story is a breeding ground for empathy and I will never stop recommending it. Whether you have a chronic illness or not, this book is for you!