People With Advanced Cancer: The Process of Living Well WithAwareness of Dying

摘要

Literature suggests that it is possible to live well with advanced cancerbut little is known about the process. In this article, we present asecondary analysis of experiences of living with advanced cancer( = 22) that refines the theory of “LivingWell with Chronic Illness” for a different context and population. Therefined theory explains the experience of living well with advancedcancer illuminating a five-phase iterative process: struggling,accepting, living with advanced cancer, sharing the illnessexperience, and reconstructing life. These five phases revolve aroundthe core concept of , which variedfrom awareness of the possibility of dying, to accepting thepossibility of dying, to acceptance that “I am dying.” led to a focus on livingwell with advanced cancer and movement towards living a life ratherthan living an illness.