The photo on the left is from @bad_diabetic, and I think many of you may have seen it by now. It represents a years worth of twice-daily insulin injections.

It’s striking, isn’t it?

(When you add to that the 5-6 daily load of many regimes, it becomes worse.)

Looking from across the bridge, from the perspective of the patient, can be an enlightening experience, allowing the healthcare workers to glimpse into what we are asking patients and families to put themselves through.

Yet ..  can we turn away from the undeniable fact that insulin keeps those with type I diabetes alive? Can we be so horrified by the sight of a fungating tumour that we cannot hold an adrenaline soaked gauze and continue to think clearly about the options ahead?

I was struck by both sides of this dilemma recently it reminded me, in part, of the inspirational address by @neilgaiman

 “When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make good art. Cat exploded — make good art.”

We do talk of medicine being an ‘art’ but do most of use think of it as an ‘art’ as in ‘craft’.

Can I ask – via twitter @ADC_BMJ, or below here, on on our Facebook page, that you think and offer and where you have found art works that helped you understand a health care challenge from an alternative point of view?

– Bob Phillips