CHILDREN & SOCIETY VOLUME 26, (2012) pp.

430442
DOI:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2011.00369.x

The Everyday Lives of Children with Cancer

in Argentina: Going beyond the Disease and
Treatment
Cecilia Vindrola-Padros
Department of Applied Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Most of the literature on paediatric oncology treatment has provided descriptions of childrens
everyday lives that are circumscribed to periods of hospitalisation. In this paper, I argue that
the political and economic context where children receive oncology treatment as well as the
particular trajectories of their families influence their experiences. The narratives from children receiving treatment in three public hospitals in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were collected.
Their stories indicate that issues such as the interruption of school, the separation of family
members, the expenses incurred during treatment, and barriers to care influence the everyday
lives of children and should be included in paediatric oncology research.  2011 The
Author(s). Children & Society  2011 National Childrens Bureau and Blackwell Publishing
Limited.
Keywords: children, cancer, narratives, Argentina.
I entered the hospital today at 8:00 a.m. and I was surprised to see how big it was and how many
people were walking around in the hallways. Everything seemed a bit chaotic. Each hallway leads to
an even bigger hallway or room. There were no signs or people willing to help me or patients find
their way. Vendors are located in the hospital lobby and in some of the larger rooms in the bottom
floor. They sell everything from a warm breakfast to toilet paper. The advertisement of hot coffee
from these vendors is fused with the calling of patients names for consultation, the sounds of the
portable radios people bring to make the wait more enjoyable, and an occasional cry from a baby.
Long lines and overcrowded hallways make it difficult to walk and the dim lights prevent me from
seeing far ahead. The elevator door was open and, in order to prevent people from falling into an
open void, a chair had been placed diagonally. (Field Notes, 14 July 2009)

This excerpt from my field notes is illustrative of one of the contexts in which children
receive cancer treatment in Argentina. The scarcity of resources, chaos and frustration of
healthcare professionals are part of the everyday lives of patients seeking medical attention
in public hospitals. Misdiagnosis, failure to obtain medication, delays and abandonment of
treatment, or the provision of medical services in unsanitary conditions are factors that
become engrained in the patients treatment experience.
Previous studies on paediatric oncology have focused on childrens knowledge regarding
medical treatment, their conceptualisation of the disease and body, or the transformations in
family relationships (Bluebond-Langner, 1978; Clarke-Steffen, 1997; Cline and others, 2006;
Williams and Bendelow, 2000). The rest of the factors that make up the lives of the patients
such as the difficulties in securing treatment, loss of parental employment, separation from
family members and the interruption of school have not received equal attention. As a
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The Everyday Lives of Children with Cancer in Argentina

431

consequence, the complexity, uncertainty and even messiness of the everyday lives of children undergoing cancer treatment are underrepresented.
Through the use of child narratives on their own treatment experiences, this paper has the
purpose of identifying the multiple factors that influence the everyday lives of paediatric
oncology patients in Argentina. Here, children are considered actors in the processes of
improving and maintaining their health both inside and outside medical institutions. Furthermore, childrens contributions to their household and family organisation are highlighted.
The stories of the children and the difficulties encountered by them while trying to access
medical attention are used to make policy recommendations.

Children and health care

Previous studies on child health have demonstrated that children have clear ideas on physical body functions (Geissler, 1998; Mitchell, 2006), healthy and unhealthy behaviours (James
and James, 2004; Oakley and others, 1995), illness (Almarsdottir and Zimmer, 1998; Bir and
Podmore, 1990) and medical procedures (Alderson and others, 2006; Bluebond-Langner,
1978). Child-focused research has demonstrated that children take active roles in the maintenance of their own health by self-medicalising, refusing or seeking medical treatment, and
negotiating decisions with family members and healthcare professionals (Bluebond-Langner,
1978; Korbin and Zahorik, 1985). Furthermore, children know how to make themselves and
their surroundings safer (Mitchell, 2006) and properly care for other children and adults who
are ill (Foster and others, 1996; Robson, 2000).
Many of these studies have analysed child perceptions and behaviours within a clinical setting, shedding light on the development and competence models that prevail in biomedical
practice under which paediatric patients are represented as immature, innocent and incompetent and, thus, not allowed to participate in decisions concerning their health (Alderson,
2007; Runeson and others, 2002). Child hospitalisation has been seen to produce significant
changes in childrens biographies and can be a stressful, even traumatic, experience (Boyd
and Hunsberger, 1998; Coyne and others, 2009). Factors such as the interruption of daily
routines, separation from family members, unsuitable hospital spaces and painful medical
procedures have been found to negatively influence childrens experiences in hospitals
(Adams and others, 2010; Curtis and others, 2004; Forsner and others, 2005; Sartain and
others, 2000; Whitehouse and others, 2001). As a consequence, childrens views on their hospital experiences have been sought to improve the attention provided to paediatric patients
and develop child-friendly hospital spaces (Adams and others, 2010; Birch and others,
2007; Whitehouse and others, 2001).
In the specific case of cancer treatment, most of the studies that have focused on childrens
perspectives have been carried out in first world or developed countries. This research
has pointed to the disruptive effects of cancer diagnoses and treatments on childrens
narratives (Balen, 2000; Clarke-Steffen, 1997; Woodgate, 2006), the different mechanisms
children use to obtain information on their disease and prognosis during hospitalisation
(Bluebond-Langner, 1978; Eiser and Havermans, 1992), the needs and concerns of children
of different ages during hospitalisation (Aldiss and others, 2009; Wilkinson, 2003), and the
long-term memories and effects of cancer treatment on childrens bodies and family relationships (Balen, 2000; Chen and others, 2000; Meitar, 2004; Woodgate, 2006). Although
these studies have provided important insight into the everyday lives of paediatric oncology
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patients, they have not indicated the ways in which illness and treatment experiences are
influenced by political and economic factors such as centralised public health policies,
inequalities in the distribution of health services, parental unemployment, underpaid hospital staff, and the scarcity of medical equipment in public hospitals. A direct consequence of
this research gap has been the creation of general categories of the chronically ill child or
the child with cancer where it is assumed that all children have access to the same types
of medical services.

Paediatric oncology treatment in developing countries

Even though biomedical research and practice have made great advances in the effectiveness
of cancer therapies, children accessing care in developing countries have less access to adequate medical treatment and lower survival rates (Arora and others, 2007; Howard and others, 2004). This situation has been produced by the unavailability of treatment in local
medical facilities, lack of training of healthcare professionals, the unreliable supply of medications and delays in initial consultations (Arora and others, 2007; Howard and others,
2004). As a consequence, paediatric oncology patients arrive with advanced cases of cancer,
have to suspend therapies, have a greater probability of relapse, and experience higher rates
of death produced by toxicity and infections (Howard and others, 2004; Wagner and Antic,
1997).
In the case of Argentina, the legislation on the public coverage of medical care allows
all paediatric oncology patients to access free medical attention and medications and provides support for families in the form of stipends, housing and transportation subsidies,
and assistance with paperwork (Scopinaro and Casak, 2002; Toziano and others, 2004).
The ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been used as a
political tool to guarantee childrens universal right to health (Beloff, 2008). Even though
governmental support is extensive in many ways, recent studies have demonstrated that
the poor training received by physicians on paediatric oncology produces delays in diagnosis, inadequate patient staging and incorrect medical decisions (Casak and others, 1997;
Chantada and others, 1999). This situation is further complicated by outdated medical
equipment, drug shortages, excessive bureaucracy, underpaid hospital staff, absence of
oncology wards for children and insufficient hospital beds (Scopinaro and Casak, 2002).
Furthermore, the few public hospitals equipped to treat paediatric oncology patients are
located in the capital of Buenos Aires; forcing families from other regions of the country
to travel long distances and resettle either temporarily or permanently in the capital
(Olaviaga and Maceira, 2007; Scopinaro and Casak, 2002). This internal migration poses
difficulties for the children and their parents as travel and resettlement are expensive and
lead to the separation of family members sometimes for years (Abriata and Moreno,
2010; Toziano and others, 2004).
Most of the research on paediatric oncology patients in Argentina has relied on the use
of hospital statistics or is based on short survey instruments directed at parents (e.g. Abriata and Moreno, 2010; Casak and others, 1997; Chantada and others, 1999; Toziano and
others, 2004). The lack of qualitative research focused on children has left their everyday
life experiences unexplored. The purpose of this paper is to present the issues of concern
to paediatric oncology patients undergoing treatment in the context of a public health
system that promotes access to medical attention, but has limited resources. By placing
emphasis on the local context, this paper has the goal of demonstrating the different ways
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The Everyday Lives of Children with Cancer in Argentina

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in which individual treatment experiences are influenced by larger political and economic
processes.

Methodology
The data presented here were collected during a three-month research project conducted in
Buenos Aires, Argentina (MayAugust 2009). The research was carried out in collaboration
with Fundacion Natal Dafne Flexer (FNDF), a local non-governmental organisation that provides medical and social assistance to paediatric oncology patients and their families. A total
of 10 children who were being treated in three different public hospitals were interviewed in
FNDFs headquarters. The interviews had a semi-structured open-ended format and requested
information on the history of diagnosis and treatment, the childs family, the ways in which
children acquired information and the main difficulties encountered by the child. The interview format was flexible enough to allow the children to construct their own narratives
regarding these points and to talk about issues that were of importance to them.
In addition to the interviews, two drawings were requested from each child illustrating their
experiences with diagnosis and treatment, and their interpretations of the drawings were
recorded separately. This technique has been used frequently in child-focused health research
in order to capture childrens opinions, beliefs or attitudes towards particular topics (France
and others, 2000; Mitchell, 2006; Sartain and others, 2000). In the case of this study, the
drawings triggered conversation on issues that had not emerged in the interviews, enriching
the data collection process. This research project also implemented interviews with parents
and participant observation in FNDFs headquarters, but this information is not included in
this article due to lack of space.
The interview recordings and descriptions of the drawings were transcribed and translated
into English by the researcher. Each participants transcripts were analysed by reading
through the material and creating a list of themes. The researcher divided the selection
of themes among the following categories: histories of diagnosis and treatment, family
relationships, and the concerns and difficulties identified by the children. These themes
were used to create a list of codes. Once the list of codes was created, the researcher
went over the transcripts and coded them with computer software (ATLAS. ti Scientific
Software Development GmbH, Berlin, Germany). The transcripts of all individuals were
then compared according to these codes in order to select the most frequent topics of
conversation and to determine how experiences varied among the participants.

Sample
As it was mentioned earlier, the research project was based on a convenience sample of 10
children (aged 816 years) undergoing cancer treatment in three public hospitals in Buenos
Aires. Table 1 summarises the characteristics of the participants. The names used to identify
each of the cases are pseudonyms.
The research proposal was analysed and approved by the President of FNDF in Argentina.
Once the corresponding authorisations with this organisation were granted, the research was
reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The parents of potential participants were approached individually and the verbal informed consent script previously
approved by the IRB explaining the contents of the study, potential risks and benefits, and
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Table 1: Characteristics of the research participants

Name

Place of origin

Hospital

Age
(years)

Gender

Karina
Michelle
Rosa
Carlos
Luis
Santi
Jose
Martin
Adriana
Tamara

Misiones, Argentina
Paraguay
Paraguay
Rio Negro, Argentina
Entre Rios, Argentina
Jujuy, Argentina
Formosa, Argentina
Bolivia
Entre Rios, Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina

De Elizalde
Garrahan
Garrahan
Garrahan
Gutierrez
Garrahan
Gutierrez
Gutierrez
Garrahan
Garrahan

8
16
9
11
12
12
15
12
16
8

Female
Female
Female
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Female
Female

the general structure of the interviews was read to them. Once the individuals decided to participate and gave consent for their children to participate, children were approached individually and were read the verbal assent script. The interviews were carried out in places where
the participants felt comfortable and where privacy could be assured.

Results
In general, the childrens narratives were filled with stories of struggle, denial and perseverance demonstrating that healthcare access and delivery were rarely linear and orderly
processes. Furthermore, even when asked to describe the treatment they were going
through, the children talked about the reorganisation that took place within their families,
the ways medical services and other expenses were being paid for, and the effects of the
disease and treatment on their school attendance, social life and plans. All of the stories,
in one way or another, pointed to how the experience of living with cancer could not be
understood in isolation from the other factors that make up the life of the child. Fragments from the interview transcripts and drawings are included here to illustrate some of
these points.

The search for diagnosis and treatment

Most studies on paediatric oncology treatment do not focus on the process of obtaining
medical attention, taking for granted the difficulties children and parents might have
encountered. The moment of diagnosis was important because it was a time of reflection
when parents and children evaluated all of the factors at stake before making decisions (see
Figure 1). One of the first decisions involved is deciding whether the diagnosis provided by
the healthcare professional should be trusted or whether a second opinion should be sought.
The doubt of this first diagnosis, and what later proved to be misdiagnosis, was present in
two of the stories of the children who were interviewed.
In Paraguay they performed an analysis on me and they told me that I had a tumour. My mom
asked the doctor if she could take me to another country and he asked her, why do you want to
take her to another country? I dont know what my mom told him and we came here and it was
something else, it was leukaemia. [] They hospitalized me because I needed antibiotics. I had a big
ball here [points to her face] and with the antibiotic it was reduced. In Paraguay they were going to
cut my face. (Rosa, 9 years, from Paraguay)
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Figure 1: Carlos drawing of his diagnosis. The text on the upper part says with fear and worried in
Spanish.
Cecilia: Why did you decide to come to Buenos Aires?
Carlos: Because a man, the other doctor, wanted to do head surgery on me, but that was wrong.
Cecilia: Where was this other doctor?
Carlos: I dont remember his name, but he is the one that told us that what I have has no cure.
(Carlos, 11 years, from Rio Negro)

In both cases, the children and their families travelled to another hospital to obtain a second
medical opinion. In the case of Rosa, she travelled from Paraguay to Argentina with her
mother under what can be interpreted as an undocumented migratory status. Carlos and his
family travelled a distance of approximately 1500 km from Rio Negro to Buenos Aires. In
the case of both children, their stories of diagnosis went beyond the procedures carried out
at the hospital, the information provided by the physician, or coping with the fact that they
had cancer. Their narratives contained stories of misdiagnosis that make one wonder what
would have happened if they had not sought another opinion with their families. The narratives also mentioned moving from one place to another which is an issue that I will discuss
later on in this paper.
The description of how treatment was initiated also generated interesting stories. In the case
of Rosa, when she arrived to Buenos Aires with her mother, they spent weeks going from
one facility to another waiting to hear a different diagnosis. It was after a family member
who had been residing in Argentina for some time helped them find a hospital, that they
went to Hospital Garrahan and initiated treatment. Michelles story is similar in this sense.
Cecilia: Were you always treated at Garrahan?
Michelle: No, when we got here, because they did not want to treat me, we went to [Hospital]
Penna.
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Cecilia: Why didnt they want to treat you?

Michelle: Because of a thing with the documents, paperwork, those things.
Cecilia: how long were you at [Hospital] Penna?
Michelle: a month. They told me that this was not the place where I was supposed to be.
Cecilia: so where did they send you?
Michelle: to [Hospital] Garrahan. (Michelle, 16 years, from Paraguay)

The back and forth experienced by Michelle and her family was produced by the denial of
medical services by one physician at Hospital Garrahan. This physician refused to admit
Michelle to the hospital because she came from Paraguay and did not have Argentine documentation. Michelle was eventually provided medical treatment, but the memories of being
denied care and moving from one hospital to the other were still part of her story.

Hospitalisations
One of the interesting issues that emerged from the interviews was the small amount of
information that the children felt was transmitted to them by healthcare professionals. The
staff who works in public hospitals in Argentina is underpaid and overworked, leading to the
reduction of time spent with individual patients. When asked if they had enough information
about the disease and treatment, five out of the 10 children who were interviewed responded
no and indicated that they could not ask the healthcare professionals questions. The conversation with Martin included below provides details on these communication barriers.
Cecilia: Did you feel like you needed more information?
Martin: Yes
Cecilia: What would you have liked to have known?
Martin: What they were going to do to me, if they were going to take me to another place.
Cecilia: Did you ask anybody or looked for information anywhere?
Martin: My mom wouldnt talk to me and I didnt like asking the doctors.
Cecilia: Why not?
Martin: I dont know, they answer back yelling.
Cecilia: Who yells?
Martin: They yell, because they say pass me this, pass me that and they get used to yelling. So,
when I talk to them, they yell. (Martin, 12 years, from Bolivia)

An important factor to consider is that children did not remain uninformed, but actively
searched for ways to clear their doubts. All five of these children asked their parents about
these issues and looked for information on the Internet. Younger children such as Rosa and
Carlos looked for key words (tumour, leukaemia, cancer) in search engines, whereas two
of the older children carried out more extensive searches and even became part of online
communities formed by individuals who had their disease. They would chat about the symptoms, procedures and common outcomes.
Cecilia: and do you know what the symptoms of the disease are?
Michelle: I was finding out some information on the Internet
Cecilia: Why did you look for information on the Internet? Did you need more information?
Michelle: Yes
Cecilia: Did you ever ask your doctor?
Michelle: No
Cecilia: Why not?

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Michelle: Because the doctor always comes in and sees me in a hurry, fast, and you cant ask her
anything. So I find out on my own.
Cecilia: And do you understand what you read on the Internet?
Michelle: Sometimes and if I dont, I ask my teacher. I ask her what is this and she explains it to
me. (Michelle, 17 years, from Paraguay)

Travelling in search for care

As it was mentioned earlier, six of the children who were interviewed came from provinces
outside of Buenos Aires and three came from neighbouring countries such as Bolivia and
Paraguay. Therefore, their narratives of diagnosis and treatment were intertwined with stories
of journeys to new countries or cities and the hardships associated with this migration. Childrens stories moved from discussing the difficulties of accessing care in their place of origin,
to the positive factors found in Buenos Aires, and then tend to go back to the emotional
difficulties produced by being far away (see Figure 2). Some also talked about wanting to go
back after the treatment was completed as the quote and the drawing below demonstrate.
Cecilia: How long has it been since youve been to Bolivia?
Martin: About two years. I had already been to Bolivia, but because over there you have to pay the
hospital, and I got a disease of the blood and they told my mom that she had to pay all this money,
so we came here. Here they treated me. After that I wanted to get to know my uncles and grandparents and so I went back to visit. There are glow-worms and lizards there. (Martin, 12 years, from
Bolivia)

Figure 2: Drawing made by Michelle (from Paraguay). The text on the upper parts says The best thing
that happened to me when I got to Argentina was having friends who love me and I love them and the
bad thing is that on Sundays I miss my cousins, aunt, and grandma and here I am alone.
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The difficulties of resettlement were not only encountered by the children migrating from
neighbouring countries, but also emerged in the interviews of the Argentine children travelling
to Buenos Aires. Homesickness and the difficulties encountered in the new city were mixed
with narratives of culpability where the reason why they (and their parents) had to leave the
place of origin was because of their disease. Associated with this culpability and blame were
the expenses many families incurred in order to migrate, the loss of parental employment
opportunities and the interruption of the education of siblings. Two of the older children even
talked about wanting to stop treatment in order to stop disrupting their families lives.
Adriana: Sometimes I feel like stopping all of this.
Cecilia: the treatment?
Adriana: Yes, I mean, look at my family, we get 150 pesos from Plan Jefas
program) and we have to spend all this money so that I can come here to
two brothers and they have kids, my mom, and my dad and we are paying
and the hotel. We put in the papers for a pension like eight months ago
thing. (Adriana, 16 years, Entre Rios, Argentina)

(a government assistance
get the treatment. I have
for the bus ticket for me,
and havent gotten any-

Another issue that emerged when children talked about their medical treatment and the need
to migrate to Buenos Aires was finding adequate conditions for resettling when they were
not in the hospital. The time of hospitalisation varied for each child according to the type of
cancer treatment and health complications. In many of their treatment histories, there were
sometimes weeks or months in between stages of treatment where the children did not need
to remain hospitalised but still needed to visit the hospitals for follow-ups. During these
days, the children and their families needed to find temporary housing. Some stayed with
family members in the capital (three of the children who were interviewed) whereas six children moved to low-cost hotels.
A common theme among the children who were interviewed was that only the mothers
migrated with them (only one child migrated with all of the members of the household). All
mothers had to abandon jobs in the place of origin, one migrated with the ill child and the
well siblings, and all faced difficulties obtaining economic support either from their families
or government institutions. This situated families in a very difficult and precarious situation
and, even though medical attention could be obtained for free for the ill child, the rest of
the family had to struggle to find a proper place to relocate, pay monthly bills, continue with
education, and support the ill child and accompanying mother. Because their childs cancer
treatment was intensive, long and uncertain, most mothers could not look for stable sources
of employment as they had to take care of their children during hospitalisations. This led to
the resettlement of migrant families in low-income neighbourhoods where they were exposed
to urban violence, insecurity and unsanitary housing conditions.
I dont like the place where we live here. We dont have a lot of money because my mom cant work
because she has to be with me because of the treatment so we rent a room from this house. But I
dont like it. I hear gunshots and there a drunk people. [] Sometimes they yell and come into my
room when I am sleeping. (Martin, 12 years, from Bolivia)

The separation of family members as a result of this migration was also mentioned by the
children as one of the hardest parts of their treatment. These issues were also present in the
drawings as some children chose to draw their houses or family members in their place of
origin.

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Cecilia: When you come to Buenos Aires, do you only come with your mom?
Santi: Yes me and my mom only. My dad has to work. My sister stays at home with my grandma.
Cecilia: Do you miss your family?
Santi: Yes. When my dad left, I cried. (Santi, 12 years, from Jujuy, Argentina)
Cecilia: did you have any difficulties during treatment?
Rosa: I always tell my mom that the hard thing for me is that I want to go back to my country, with
my family and my friends. (Rosa, 9 years, from Paraguay)

Another issue of concern for the children was the interruption of school. The interruption of
education is produced by the fact that many families visualise their migration as temporary
and do not see the benefit of enrolling the child in school in the new place, the lack of education programmes available within public hospitals and the delicate health condition of
children during treatment.
I cant go back to school. I want to study. I want to be a paediatrician. But we live outside of Buenos
Aires and we cant have a home-teacher, so I had to stop. (Rosa, 9 years, from Paraguay)

Discussion
The experiences of children receiving treatment in resource-poor facilities vary considerably to those described in other studies on child hospitalisation (Curtis and others, 2004;
Whitehouse and others, 2001). The lack of toys, hospital teachers, play specialists, playgrounds and gardens in most paediatric hospitals in Argentina is not conducive to reducing the isolating and frightening effects of hospitals. This is not only linked to the small
budgets available for public hospitals in the country, but also to the disregard of play,
recreation and schooling as important components of the hospitalisation experience of
children.
The small amount of time healthcare professionals spent with each patient and the lack of
educational programmes in the hospital contributed to feelings of disconnection and disinformation among the children. The Internet, although not always accessible, became an
important companion. The possibility of going online and sharing their experiences transformed these children into active participants during the process of their treatment, it
restored the agency they felt had been taken from them through the process of medicalisation. The conversations about their online searchers indicated that, in some cases, this
became a reassuring process for these children. They were able to see that they were not the
only ones who had this disease and other individuals were going through the same medical
procedures and had similar concerns.
The need to travel to Buenos Aires in order to access medical attention was an issue that created further disruption in the childs life. In the case of the Argentine children, this migration
was produced by the unavailability of paediatric oncologists and medical equipment in their
place of origin due to the centralised organisation of the public health system. The stories
told by these children went beyond descriptions of the disease and treatment and included
issues such as travelling to a new city, leaving behind family members and friends, interrupting school and producing changes in the economic capacity of the family. Some of the children tended to place blame on themselves (and their disease) for all of these changes and, in
some cases, discussed wanting to stop their medical treatment and returning to their place of
origin.
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Conclusions
The narratives of children with cancer go beyond discussions of their disease and treatment
and include the different elements that make up their everyday lives. Children are not only
concerned about their own health and well-being, but also worry about their family members. Their descriptions of medical treatment are in some cases interlaced with stories of
journeys to new cities and hospitals and the difficulties associated with these travels. Children, particularly those from other countries, talk about feeling discriminated when they
were denied medical attention. Migration creates deep transformations in their identities as
the host society is not always welcoming and receptive. The context of resettlement further
complicates the treatment experience as the limited family budget forces the children and
their parents to relocate in low-cost hotels or marginalised neighbourhoods.
Qualitative research with paediatric oncology patients sheds light on the need to situate their
stories within medical institutions, but also in their particular family dynamics, among peer
groups, in the larger Argentine society, new cities and spaces, and in the virtual world of
online cancer communities. The documentation of these stories has practical consequences as
the children talk about the benefits of receiving medical treatment in a country where health
care is considered a universal human right, but they also point to the limitations of contemporary policies. The current Argentine legislation on health places emphasis on the provision of
free medical attention and medication but does little to address the inequalities in the distribution of services across the country or the negative health outcomes produced by the precarious
living conditions of a great portion of the population. The fact that the children tended to
equate the difficulties of treatment with those faced when leaving their homes and establishing residency in Buenos Aires should not be discounted as it illuminates important areas of
policy transformation. The stories of the children demonstrate the need of considering health
as a concept that goes beyond the medical sphere and includes all aspects of everyday life.

Acknowledgements
This research could not have been carried out without the support provided by the Institute
for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (ISLAC) from the University of South
Florida (USF). The authors PhD programme has been funded by the Fulbright-Garcia Robles
Grant, AAUW Doctoral Fellowship, CONACYT Doctoral Scholarship and the University of
South Florida. The authors gratitude goes to all of the children and parents who participated
in this research project, Fundacion Natal Dafne Flexer for their collaboration, Dr Linda
Whiteford for her guidance, and Dr Donileen Loseke and Dr Rebecca Zarger for their comments on earlier versions of this article.

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Correspondence to: Cecilia Vindrola-Padros, Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East
Fowler Avenue, SOC 107, Tampa, FL 33620-8100, USA, Tel.: +1-813-523-3013. E-mail: cvindrol@mail.usf.edu

Accepted for publication 3 February 2011

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