Identity and meaning in the experience of cancer: three narrative themes

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of three women breast-cancer survivors and the associated experiences of their partners. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted using a narrative approach, and the six accounts were analysed using the grounded theory method. The results describe the marked variation in the meaning of the experience among the participants, and the perceived change in each woman's identity from prior to her cancer diagnosis to the time of the interview. The findings are presented in three sections: (1) Three Narrative Themes, the themes, Back to 'Normal', Rebirth and Turning Point, that represent the perceived change in each woman's identity; (2) The Construction of Meaning, the shared characteristics that relate to meaning construction and identity; (3) Integration, the integration in each self-narrative of past and present self-understandings. The findings are compared with the existing literature, and the implications of different interpretations of self and change in the cancer experience are discussed. The limitations of the study are discussed with recommendations for future research.