“It Changed Everything. And Not All in a Bad Way”: Reflections of Pediatric Cancer Experiences

Abstract

Pediatric cancer, otherwise known as childhood cancer, is devastating to both children and their families. All individuals in a family are often physically, psychologically, and socially affected. Using the qualitative theoretical orientation of interpretive phenomenology, interviews were conducted with 10 pediatric cancer survivors and 9 of their support persons to gain a more holistic understanding of the pediatric cancer experiences of children and their families. A total of 4 themes emerged from the data, however only the past experiences of the survivors and their recollection of their pediatric journeys will be discussed. Survivors experienced a variety of negative effects during and after treatment, while their support persons explained the emotional upheaval they experienced while caring for their children. Further, all individuals recalled positive memories throughout their journeys. The results of this study provide health care professionals and school administrators with insight into how to manage the difficult transitions children with cancer face when returning to school after cancer diagnosis and/or treatment. As well, this study may allow others undergoing similar journeys to relate to the lived experiences of the participants in this work.

The Balancing Act: Mothers’ Experiences of Providing Care to Their Children With Cancer

“…This current study, however, not only described some of the health care work the mothers completed but also provided insight into how mothers attempted to maintain normalcy for their families by taking shifts with their husbands (seen in “I had to be there for everything”), as well as relying on others, such as friends and extended family members (which can be seen in “Most of the time we relied on other people”). Miedema et al (2008) also described that many mothers left the workforce to spend time with and care for their children with health issues, and Molinaro and Fletcher (2017) described how caregivers of children undergoing cancer treatment maintained as much normalcy and positivity for their children as possible. However, mothers both in this work, as well as in previous works, have articulated that providing care allowed them to take more control of a situation that often renders individuals uncertain, and leaves them feeling stressed and out of control (Comaroff & Maguire, 1981; Flury, Caflisch, Ullmann-Bremi, & Spichiger, 2011; Woodgate & Degner, 2002).…”

A moment just for me – parents’ experiences of an intervention for person-centred information in paediatric oncology

“…When a child is diagnosed with cancer and starts to receive treatment, the parents experience the situation as very demanding. They feel shock and despair (Björk et al, 2005;Molinaro and Fletcher, 2017;Ångström-Brännström et al, 2015), and have high levels of stress, fatigue, and a strong sense of uncertainty (Stewart et al, 2010;Sultan et al, 2016). After the diagnosis the parents face a steep learning curve; they have to process a large amount of medical information, which can be overwhelming and has been described by parents as "learning a new language" (McGrath et al, 2007).…”

‘It’s not meant to be for life, but it carries on’: a qualitative investigation into the psychosocial needs of young retinoblastoma survivors

“…‘Memories from treatment’ was a key finding and was linked to the individuals’ emotional response and understanding of the world and others around them, as indicated by the verbatim quotations. Although reported in previous childhood cancer survivor literature,31 32 this has not been noted in Rb before or cancers affecting very young children, who may be preverbal, yet still have sensory, salient recollections of this period. This finding can be described by the AIP model, which states that early life trauma can have lifelong impact 33 34.…”