ABSTRACT
Physicians in all specialties are becoming increasingly concerned with the changing nature of the suffering experienced by their patients, whom they are treating with ever more sophisticated chemotherapy and surgery. They are beginning to distinguish between the suffering that results from the course of a disease and the suffering that results from treatment of that disease. Issues of this nature have been described by Cassell, who defined suffering as “the state of severe distress associated with events that threaten the intactness of the person” (1982: 639). Cassell states that the person has many aspects which include the relationship of his body, mind, and spirit to his family, friends, and social roles. Confirmation that a person has a life-threatening disease says to the patient that life will never be the same again. Every aspect of his person will be affected.
