Table 2.

Subthemes and Quotations From Theme 1: Knowing Who I Am and Keeping My Psyche Intact

Subtheme	Quotations
Having a strong will	“Strong will would be the word. Because no matter what … we’re just fighting to survive.” “Living is hard enough as it is, you have to be determined.” “You do what you have to do to get by, to get through it, to get to the end and not the end being underground.”
Keeping a positive attitude	“As soon as you go and put yourself in that negative mode, the cancer’s going to take over. So that’s how I get myself back out of it.” “I can’t sit here and wallow in self-pity because then I start getting depressed and, if I get depressed, I don’t do things, I can’t help my kids. I mean, I just can’t do anything.”
Being on the tipping point	“I’m just getting through it…. You don’t know what I’m doing behind the scenes and when I have my ‘boo-hoo’ times or when I’m kneeling beside the couch and I’m praying.” “You fake everybody out! You sit there and you act like everything’s fine but you’re scared.”