| Category | Concept |
| Accepting life with cancer | Accepting the fact that they have cancer |
| Accepting the naturalness of having cancer | |
| Maintaining activities of daily living without feeling shackled by cancer | Exploring ways of reducing fixation on the disease |
| Improving the non-patient aspects of life in a healthy way | |
| Maintaining a take-it-easy attitude | |
| Continuing to be themselves as before | |
| Reconsidering how to continue being themselves in daily life until life comes to an end | Changing their lifestyle as a preparation for getting older |
| Envisioning a future beyond treatment | |
| Weighing life and medical expenses | |
| Using trial and error to integrate treatment and daily living | Trusting and complying with the information given by health care providers |
| Devising ways to protect one’s life from being unduly burdened by side effects | |
| Negotiating with health care providers | |
| Formulating their criteria for continuing treatment | Enduring side effects to the limits of mental and physical capacity |
| Establishing criteria as to what extent side effects can be tolerated | |
| Continuing treatment when its effects can be felt | |
| Becoming resilient and accepting side effects | |
| Obtaining help from caregivers | Accepting support so treatment can continue |
| Relying on others to maintain their own lifestyle | |
| Accepting moral support from family and friends |