“Vi gjorde väl vårt bästa, får jag väl ändå tycka” En kvalitativ studie om att ha barn tillsammans med en person med cancer

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to examine the participants’ experiences of being in a relationship and having children with a person suffering from cancer. The study is focusing on how the partner’s disease has affected the participants and their family situation, and to examine their experiences of support in the demanding life situation. Five participants, three women and two men, were interviewed. The material was interpreted with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach using Interpretative Phenomen-ological Analysis (IPA). Six themes were identified as being of particular importance: Receiving the Diagnosis, The Subject Death, A Changed Individual, A Changed Family, Experiences of Support and In the Child’s Best Interest. Among the findings were the participants’ efforts to make the best of the situation for the sake of their children, and their feelings of having the sole responsibility for the family. The majority of the participators have expressed a need to plan for the future, and they emphasise that the health care system to a higher extent need to be more aware of the needs of the children of the sick parent.