Asceticism imposed: The desert theology of oncology

摘要

Through the side effects of treatment regimens, oncology patients may experience an infliction of ascetic living: fasting secondary to nausea, extended silence motivated by mucositis, isolation introduced by contact precautions, renunciation of material wealth because of work days missed, celibacy endured during extended hospitaliza- tions, and resigned humility by virtue of reliance on care providers.The original desert fathers and mothers, the ascetics, are lauded in Christianity for being preservers of the faith and founders of the monastic movement. This concept of seeking instruction from ascetic practice is not unique to the Judeo-Christian tradition, as demonstrated by the Middle Way central to Buddhism, the Sanyasa stage of lifein Hinduism,theNazirite vow of ancient Judaism, and the Zuhd renunciation in Islam. Like the ancient ascetics re-garded by many faith traditions, oncology patients may encounter abstinence from worldly pleasures as a result of the imposition of disease-directed treatments.