Surviving: One Family’s Experience with Cancer

Abstract

People experience trauma in many ways. Discussing the trauma in the form of illness narratives can be beneficial, not only to the patient, but for their families as well (Hydén, 1997). Illness narratives are becoming more popular in the medical field, but mostly are written from the perspective of the patient and their spouse. Little is written from the perspective of the children. In this article, my immediate family and I write our narratives detailing the experience of my father’s cancer. Major themes that emerged from our stories are disbelief, unreliable memories, wanting to forge ahead, and a stronger family. Although we experienced the same event, our narratives differ. By sharing our perspectives, we were able to further heal. Illness narratives can be therapeutic but should be critically examined, as memories are not always trustworthy.