Realizing Being a Leukemic Patient: the Starting Point of Returning to Normality in Thai Adolescents

Abstract

This grounded theory discovers the experience of adolescents undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia. Participants were 20 leukemic adolescents, aged between 12-19 years old. Data were collected through in-depth interview, and we observed their experience while receiving chemotherapy. The constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. “Realization being a leukemic patient” was identified as the first stage in the basic social process of “returning to normality”. This stage was the starting point of the process to living with chemotherapy in leukemic adolescents. Three subcategories comprised the adolescents’ experiences: having alarming symptoms, knowing the diagnosis, and accepting leukemic patients’ role. All the adolescents in this study realized they were leukemic patients and they accepted chemotherapy as a treatment. The choice to be cured was apparent in leukemic adolescents. Chemotherapy was considered a task for them to endure. These findings will be useful for nurses, clinicians, and parents to identify interventions for leukemic adolescents during chemotherapy. This research also has implications for future study in this field.