Abstract

In order to specify factors that promote resilience in breast cancer survivors and obtain basic material for preparing a resilience evaluation index, data were collected by a semi-structured interview of 24 breast cancer survivors, and analyzed with reference to the method of content analysis of Krippendorff.

Based on analysis of 305 record units, 55 contextual representations, 17 explanation concepts and 8 concepts were extracted. The following 8 beliefs were identified as factors promoting resilience in breast cancer survivors：“It is possible to choose a satisfactory treatment”, “It is possible to take actions to prevent recurrence and complications”, “Believing in recovery”, “Having hope and aims”, “It is possible to maintain my life style”, “Accepting the current situation and changing my mindset”, “It is possible to receive support from my family and from other patients with the same disease”, and “It is possible to recognize the significance of my existence in society and play a role”.

From these findings, it was suggested that in order to promote resilience in breast cancer survivors, it is necessary to provide patients knowledge that would allow them to choose satisfactory treatment, individual information needed to prevent recurrence and complications, and support utilizing social resources to enhance the significance of self‒existence and self‒value. We propose to develop the subordinate concept of a resilience scale based on these results.

Abstract

In the present study, we sought to clarify the experience of advanced and recurrent colorectal cancer patients with oxaliplatin‒induced peripheral neuropathy. Eight advanced and recurrent colorectal cancer patients who experienced peripheral neuropathy presumably caused by oxaliplatin were enrolled in this study. We conducted a semi‒structured interview based on our interview guideline. The interviews were transcribed, coded and categorized；the smallest unit comprised a separate part on symptoms and experiences of specific peripheral neuropathy, classified by focusing on similarities and differences in semantic content.

As a result, hypersensitive symptoms peculiar to oxaliplatin were determined and also five categories were identified in the patients’ experiences of peripheral neuropathy：“Sense of numbness understood only after it has been experienced”, “The will to live patiently with numbness”, “Menace of hindrances in daily life”, “Desiring to do things on one’s own to the extent permitted by numbness”, and “Efforts to ensure a safe life with numbness”.

These findings demonstrated the fact that the patients recognized peripheral neuropathy as a new menace to threaten life, and they received the treatment desperately with a strong will to live, and they decided to secure safety and autonomy within the limitations imposed by the numbness. These experiences can be regarded as characteristic of colorectal cancer patients in the primary treatment stage who can expect prolonged survival even with advanced and recurrent cancer, and the importance of our support for the patients to proactively manage peripheral neuropathy in life was suggested.