Process of Patients Telling Children about Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to determine the process of patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer in Japan telling their children about the disease, and how they have thought about it after the diagnosis. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer who had 3- to 14-year-old children. Narratives of participants about how they told their children about the disease were analysed by a qualitative and descriptive study design using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA). Results: In the process by which patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer tell their children about the disease, participants were [Maintaining mental balance in the face of the threat of the cancer] after the breast cancer diagnosis, and used the “Facing the cancer through the relationship with the children” as the core category in the process. The participants had [Determined to tell the children about the disease], while [Being worried about the influence of cancer on the children], [Thinking about the benefits of not hiding the cancer], and [Feeling difficulty in communicating the diagnosis of cancer to their children]. They were [Encouraged to tell about the disease to the children] by people around them, and did tell the children that they had a “disease” or “cancer”. The participants who told the children that they had the disease while [Determining the impact on the children] repeated the [Making herself look unconcerned] in the process. Those who told the children that they had cancer while [Determining the impact on the children] repeated [Talking openly about cancer and death] between parents and children. Conclusions: The participants came to face their own cancer by maintaining mental balance in the face of the threat of the cancer and telling their children about the disease. Nurses need to assist these patients to be able to deal openly with their children from the early stage of the diagnosis and solve problems by family members.