A model of the family transition to living with childhood cancer.

The major objective of this longitudinal, grounded theory study was to describe the family transition to living with childhood cancer, from the family's point of view, when a child is diagnosed with cancer with a favorable prognosis (long-term survival rate greater than 60%). A convenience sample consisting of 40 members of seven families with a child recently diagnosed with cancer was recruited for the study. Data collection consisted of three tape-recorded, semi-structured interviews with family members in the home. A model of the family transition in response to the diagnosis of childhood cancer was developed. This transition was characterized by a fracturing of reality at the realization of the malignant nature of the illness; a period of limbo, characterized by uncertainty after the diagnosis; utilization of strategies to reconstruct reality; and construction of a "new normal" for the family, during which the nature of uncertainty changed, but did persist.