Table 1.

Questions for the Semi-Structured Interview Table 1. Questions for the Semi-Structured Interview

How old were you when diagnosed? Who was living in your household? How many children did you have? How old were they? Were you working outside the home? Profession? Who helped you most during your cancer treatment? What type of support did you need most at the time of diagnosis? What types of support did you receive? What types of support were missing? What types of support do you need currently? How much contact have you had with other women your age who have gone through breast cancer? How did you meet these women? Did your living situation change as a result of your diagnosis? If you had a dating or committed relationship when you were diagnosed, how did cancer affect it? When you found out about your cancer, were you interested in having (more) children? What were your biggest anxieties when you found out you had breast cancer? How often do you still worry about these issues now? What positive impact has your cancer experience had on your life? What negative impact has your cancer experience had on your life? What impact did cancer have on your job/career? Have you been pregnant since your cancer? If not, have you tried to become pregnant? Have you seen a doctor about fertility? If not, why? If yes, what tests or treatments have you had? Do you have menstrual cycles? How much did your medical team (doctors, nurses, social workers) tell you about cancer and fertility? Was information you received not enough, about right, more than you wanted? Were you offered any option to keep your fertility, like taking special drugs during chemotherapy or freezing embryos or ovarian tissue? Did your medical team talk to you about safety of getting pregnant after breast cancer treatment? Was the information you received not enough, about right, more than you wanted? Did your medical team talk to you about whether children you had after cancer would be healthy i.e. no birth defects related to your cancer or treatment? Was the information you received not enough, about right, more than you wanted? Did your medical team talk to you about whether your children would have an unusually high risk of cancer? Was the information you received not enough, about right, more than you wanted? If relevant: What has dating been like for you since your cancer? If relevant: How did your partner react emotionally to your cancer? Has a partner ever rejected you because of your breast cancer? How do you feel about your sexual attractiveness now? How has your sex life changed since your cancer treatment? Describe sexual problems you have experienced. Has anything gotten better about your sex life compared to before cancer? How much did your medical team tell you about breast cancer and sexuality? Was the information you received not enough, about right, more than you wanted? Have you used any kind of treatment for a sexual problem (lubricant, herbal remedy, seeing a doctor, etc.)? As an African-American woman, do you think breast cancer had a special meaning for you that might be different than for a woman of another ethnicity? Is there a way that being African-American helped you cope better with breast cancer? Is there a way that being African-American made it harder to cope with breast cancer? Do you think that African-American women cope differently with problems relating to sex or fertility? Do you feel that being African-American had an impact on your medical care for breast cancer?