I suspect that the requirement of stoicism stoic in the face of cancer is more about third parties feeling bad otherwise. Stoic people makes us feel good, because it allows us to pretend to ourselves that the disease is less painful and unpleasant then we would like it to be. It allows us to not feel pain through empathy etc.
When someone is stoic because he or she wants to, that is fine. Requiring that sick people hide their pain and fear is cruel in its own way, imo.
When someone is stoic because he or she wants to, that is fine. Requiring that sick people hide their pain and fear is cruel in its own way, imo.