부산대학교 도서관

The diagnosis of an oncological illness supposes facing too many stressful elements that they affect straight to all the areas of the life of the patient and that consistently it forces to realize important efforts and personal adaptations. When the diagnosed person has younger sons to its charge, often the fact of appearing like communicating to their children the illness situation, it bears the whole set of doubts and worries that make difficult, even more, the experience of this first moment in the process of the illness. The present work tries to identify and know with more depth, the main worries and resources of the patients who are in this situation. To carry out it, we have developed two studies: the first Pilot Study with 29 diagnosed patients of diverse cancers, which coexist with less age children, and a Main Study with 60 patient parents newly diagnosed of cancer with younger sons to its charge. Clinical and social variables have been evaluated, as well as the worries and the resources, the style of familiar communication, the grade of affectation of the everyday life and the emotional discomfort. The results obtained in the Main Study, show basically a sample of diagnosed women of advanced breast cancer, with an age about 40 year, with an average of two children of (primary) school age who belong to traditional famílies The main worry of the patients is related to the psychological suffering that the illness can endure to their children, as well as the increase of the rebelliousness on the part of these during the illness and, the patients affected with adolescent children, show big worry for the consumption of toxic substances. With regard to the explored resources, they show limited resources for as to inform to their children about the illness. On the other hand, they have abundant resources to delegate third persons the care of their children and to manage the domestic life. The patients with major emotional discomfort present a major alteration of the everyday life and, the style of familiar communication seems more altered in the patients with advanced stadiums of the illness. The information of this study indicates also that the highest worry levels take place in patients with the advanced states, with adolescent children, and with few resources to inform about the illness to their children. The style of familiar communication seems to be related neither to the worries nor the resources. The obtained results indicate an absence of resources on the part of the parents with cancer, to inform to their children. We consider an important problem to be this one and think that it is necessary to contribute a specific support faced to the parents, from the moment of the diagnosis, since we have seen that is an important starting point to initiate conversations with their children, on the illness of their parents.