| The purpose of this grounded theory study was to generate knowledge regarding the subjective experience of Thai families living with children with cancer in their day-to-day lives. Specific aims included the identification of the meaning of childhood cancer and its impact on family life as perceived by Thai families, illness management strategies, and the relationships between the family's meaning of childhood cancer and their illness management.;Participants were 20 families, consisting of 36 parents or caregivers, ranging from 29--60 years of age. Their 20 children ranged from 3--15 years of age with all types of cancer, newly diagnosed and under treatment. The research design combined multiple semi-structured interviews with parents and caregivers, naturalistic observations in both the inpatient unit and outpatient clinic, and documentary data sources. Data were analyzed using the grounded theory approach.;Struggling with uncertainty was found to be a basic social psychological process in Thai families living with children with cancer in their day-today lives. It consisted of three separate but overlapping phases: Making sense (Phase I), Tham jai (Phase II), and Living with uncertainty (Phase III).;Phase I, making sense, involved a process of searching for meaning in the problems the children experience. It consisted of three different stages, which began in the pre-diagnostic stage, continued through the diagnosis stage and was ongoing through the course of the child's illness and treatment during the post-diagnostic stage.;Phase II, Tham jai, was a process that represents the great intensity of parental efforts, mentally, emotionally and spiritually during the early months or years of the illness to overcome their emotional suffering brought on by the threatened loss of the child. It also represented their efforts to move toward understanding and acceptance of their child's illness and perhaps the prospect of death while accepting that the future was uncertain. Tham jai consisted of three complex actions: contemplating, realizing the reality of the child's condition, and accepting.;Phase III, Living with uncertainty, involved managing four different dimensions related to uncertainty which were illness, interpersonal relations, information, and day-to-day care management. |
