Life after cancer: struggles, coping and perception of young cancer survivors

• Main Authors: Chan, Charlene Joy T., Cheng, Abigail Mae T., Claros, Andrea Nicole C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2016
• Subjects: Cancer; Cancer > Patients; Cancer > Treatment; Cancer > Mortality; Struggle; Adjustment (Psychology); Perception; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5709
• Institution: De La Salle University

Despite cancer being one of the main factors of that contribute to mortality rate, improvements in the field of medicine have increased the number of cancer survivors. After being cured from a life-threatening illness, cancer survivors are faced with further struggles as they face life after cancer. The current study focuses mainly on the struggles cancer survivors face as well as coping strategies that aid in expanding their survivorship. Furthermore, those experiences are found to change the way they perceive life. Using both convenience and purposive sampling methods, sever, 15 to 30 years old survivors of different kinds of cancer were gathered. Three main themes emerged from the data analysis, which are Death and Anxiety, Freedom and Responsibility, Meaning and Purpose. Under the theme Death and Anxiety, Fear of Cancer Recurrence is found to be one of the struggles survivors face. In order to cope with such struggles, the survivors of the study reported to have a change in lifestyle and preoccupy themselves, which is under Freedom and Responsibility. Moreover, Positive Thinking, Appreciation of Life, and Spirituality are the sub themes that emerged from the main theme, Meaning and Purpose.