Stories of African-American Breast Cancer Survivors.

Abstract

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to report an interwoven narrative of African-American women who are thriving after cancer. The sample included 12 African-American women (N = 12) who have been disease-free survivors of breast cancer for 10 or more years after initial diagnosis and who self-identify as thriving. Narrative inquiry was used to develop the stories into an interwoven narrative. The narrative includes 6 phases: a) Orientation: and then I had cancer; b) A complication: stopping the silence; c) A further complication: treatment; d) Evaluation: peace in the valley of the shadow of death; e) Resolution: the new normal; and f) Coda: I'm still here. Findings from this study have implications for research and practice with long-term survivors of breast cancer such as those related to culturally relevant interventions for African-American women with breast cancer.