K. R. Sethuraman
4 From a frying pan into the fire The Stag and the Lion: A Stag was chased by hounds, and took refuge in a cave,
where he hoped to be safe. Unfortunately, the cave housed a Lion, to whom he fell an easy prey. "How unlucky am I," he cried, "I am saved from the dogs only to fall
into the clutches of a Lion."
A 50 year old man had a muscle wasting disease (muscular dystrophy) for ten years.
Presently he was so weak that he could hardly breathe. He demanded and got into an
intensive care service where he was connected to a breathing machine (mechanical respirator) through an external opening into his wind pipe. He was now voiceless and powerless. "How awful," he thought, "I am saved from the misery of breathlessness only to lose my voice and fall into the clutches of this miserable machine." Comments Patients with chronic and inexorably worsening diseases would eventually reach a
stage of needing life support by artificial means. Dialysis and artificial respiration are two
such examples. There are many more ways of jumping from the frying pan into the fire and wonder if you are extending life or merely prolonging death!
The ideal way of approaching such a problem is by creative problem solving (see
Chapter 35). Lesser mortals have to ask the following questions: 1. How will my disease reach its end stage? 14
