As social entities.individuals enact roles and carry out responsibilities.
Roles are learned and influenced by many social forces. They give meaning a
nd value to life and foster a sense of belonging and contribution. Roles ca
n undergo profound transformation during and after a diagnosis of cancer. I
n most family situations, the role of mother is a significant caretaking ro
le. However, little research has focused on understanding the alterations t
hat can occur in the mother's role when. a woman faces cancer. The purpose
of this study was to explore, from a woman's perspective, the experience of
being a mother living with life-threatening illness. In-depth interviews w
ere held with 47 mothers diagnosed as having cancer Their children ranged i
n age from 1 to 18 years, Content and theme analyses were performed on the
transcribed texts. The findings describe the impact of the: cancer on the w
omen and their families and how they felt about any changes in their roles
as mothers.