Trust and belief in the treatment and its necessity versus fear of treatment and its side-effects
Wanting to continue living cancer free (realizing necessity of the treatment) and fearing cancer recurrence (anticipating regret)
Receiving correct information about the treatment and side-effects in advance
Need for knowledge vs preference for not knowing (psychological burden)
Severity of side-effects experienced or feared (e.g. menopausal or psychological)
Ease of access and availability of professional support and perceived their trustworthiness
Siloed working
Limit of health providers’ knowledge
Wanting support from family, friends, co-workers and other patients.
Obligations to family to get well and owing it to others to live
Ability to ask for help (fear of being burden)
The perception of the treatment (positive or negative)
Continue feeling as a cancer patient throughout the treatment, even though being told that they are cured, and cancer is completely gone
Ability to always remember to fill the prescription and take the medication as prescribed
Changes in the patient’s usual routine
Expense of the medications (insurance issues)
Having other priorities (work, motherhood, supporting others).
Bureaucracy in the healthcare system
Uncertainty about reaching end of treatment
How cancer is depicted in a society
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Looking for appropriate support from specialists, GPs, nurses, pharmacists, support groups, family and friends
Looking for other sources of information
Trying to manage the side-effects
Monitoring the side-effects
Experimenting with alternative medicine
Discussing the possibility of changing the hormone therapy medication or changing to a different brand
Asking for help and support
Modifying life to adapt to the treatment and its side-effects (e.g. quitting work due to lack of energy, downsizing, changing other routines such as sport/exercise, social activities, traveling, housework and frequency of sexual intercourse, taking up healthier eating habits)
The use of coping mechanisms to ease the experience (e.g. active coping and self-motivation, seeking physical and emotional support, maintaining a positive attitude, meditating, acceptance, humour)
Incorporating medication into routine and watching for changes in usual routine
Keeping a journal to record all breast cancer related issues
Asking for tests, important dates and appointments
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Adhering to the treatment despite being surprised by the challenges and the severity of the side-effects (i.e. finding adherence to be more difficult than originally thought)
Forgetting to take the treatment as prescribed occasionally or taking a drug holiday to manage side-effects
Committing to finishing the whole duration of the treatment
Putting up with side-effects of the treatment
Suffering from the side-effects of the treatment
Restricting social activities
Side-effects of the treatment, old age and other medications get entangled
Cancer and feeling ill linger throughout the treatment
Cancer treatment taking a back seat to other priorities
Feeling lost dealing with the bureaucracy in the health care system
Missing out on important tests or being unaware of important milestones
Keeping cancer diagnosis a secret
Balancing priorities: adhering to the long-term treatment
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