Living with cancer : a sociological exploration

Abstract

In the recent National Cancer Plan Consultation Document (2017) it was reported that the lifetime risk of developing and being diagnosed with cancer is continuously expanding; a total of 1800 individuals are now diagnosed with cancer every year. Cancer is increasingly conceptualized as a chronic illness as much as a terminal illness, and an increasing number of people are living with cancer. This research is an exploration of how six different individuals diagnosed with different types of cancer and at different stages, understand and experience their illness within the Maltese social context. The two main research questions are: A. How does an individual narrate the story of being diagnosed with cancer? B. How does an individual experience living with cancer? This research delves deeply into the various, complex narratives presented during semi structured interviews, and tries to interpret and gain qualitative data on how individuals relate with the various disruptions to the body, identity, and self, caused by cancer.