"Nothing is carved in stone!": uncertainty in children with cancer and their families.

Although more children are surviving childhood cancer, they and their families still face many new stressors and challenges. Understanding the experiences of childhood cancer in children and families is conditional upon building a sound and comprehensive knowledge base that is grounded in research. Accordingly, a longitudinal interpretive qualitative study was conducted to arrive at an understanding of children's and families' perspectives on having to experience the childhood cancer-symptom trajectory. A purposive sample of 39 children with cancer and their families were recruited into the study. Open-ended interviews and participant observation were the primary data collection methods. Data were analyzed by the constant comparative method of grounded theory and analysis of illness narratives. Findings revealed that in addition to the stress and suffering resulting from the children's multiple symptom experiences, children and their families experienced many other events or 'rough spots' that made cancer and life difficult to get through. Although the 'rough spots' were numerous and varied, they all resulted in children and their families experiencing feelings of uncertainty. This paper focuses on describing the nature of uncertainty experienced by the children with cancer and their families. Recommendations for nursing practice and research are discussed.