Table 2.

Indicative quotes: the impact of pandemic life on networks of care.

Participant	Indicative quote
Patient, F 51–70, bladder cancer, United States	My husband had to drop me off at the door and I had never—This was a huge building and I was having surgery that day. I was petrified. I was terrified. And I'm a nurse, you know. And to find my way – we didn't even know if I was in the right building. My husband didn't know either. It looked like it was the right building. I got in. It was very easy to get lost. I was in tears. […] Except for the day that I found out I had cancer that was probably my second worst day of this cancer – was trying to find my way around. […] I mean, I'm an astute woman. I can find my way around places but when you are already fasting, I know I'm looking at surgery in the next couple of hours, at a new place, I knew I was getting chemo that day- it just kind of overwhelmed me.
Patient, F 30–50, lung cancer, Australia (a)	And it was really horrible going to the appointment. You couldn't take a support person with you… And to sit there and get that news, that it had doubled in size in the six months since my brain scan before, and I walked out of there and there were so many questions that I asked, but I don't remember the answer. Like, “When should I have my follow-up scan?” and things like that. Because normally, if you have somebody with you you've got two [sets of] ears listening, so when you walk out you kind of go, “Okay, well I need to book this in and do this and do that.” But because it was myself and I was a bit overwhelmed, it's not very often I go by myself, and so it just reinforced the importance of having someone there. And the consequences of that have been quite dramatic.
Patient, M 51–70, prostate cancer, United States	But, you know, she was able to go with me to the first meeting at [cancer hospital], and the rest of the time she was kept out in the cold and the snow- and wasn't able to actively participate. I rely on her for my medical information, so it made it very stressful. Very stressful.
Wife, F 51–70, prostate cancer, United States	[He] came out of those appointments that he went to by himself – when I asked him what they said – he couldn't tell me and that he didn't know what questions to ask. His appointments were brief. He has a PhD in chemistry and graduated from MIT. He had no understanding, or very little understanding, of what was going on because he went by himself and he was so overwhelmed… Every time we went, we asked for help. We said, “Is there a social worker we could talk to?” No one available. “Is there a family-patient relations department?” They were working from home, we couldn't talk to them. I asked if they had a clinical coordinator, they didn't know what that was. So when you asked the staff for help, they don't know what the resources are to help a family that's overwhelmed.
Patient, F 51–70, ovarian cancer, United States	So the care itself, you know, with the hospitals and everything, nothing of mine was delayed- but it was a lonely journey – and you felt more alone.
Patient, F 30–50, lung cancer, Australia (b)	I was there by myself, yeah. So, that was very, very raw. Yeah, very difficult. […] I told [husband] when I went out to the car. He was waiting for me in the car. But I did ask my oncologist if she would talk to him as well, I think it was just so that he would understand it from a medical point of view rather than just coming from me because maybe I was emotional about it. I don't know. Yeah, I wasn't really sure. I just felt that it would be better for him to hear it from her rather than just from me. I can't really tell you why that is […] I guess it was a way of him being there, yeah, being there with me.