Background: Every year around 350 people in Sweden gets the disease acute myeloid leukemia(AML). AML is a severe form of cancer. The rapid course of the disease means that intensive treatment needs to be started as quickly as possible and patients usually feel they have an uncertain future. The treatment with chemotherapy also gives a lot of side effects that affect people´s everyday life. This study contributes with an understanding of how the patient with AML experiences their situation.

Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate the patients experience of living with acute myoeloid leukemia.

Method: A literature-based study was conducted by analyzing qualitative articles. The search was performed in the database Cinahl and Pubmed and 9 articles have been analyzed with Friberg´s five step model.

Results: Two main categories where identified: to face the disease and to meet a new everyday life. Seven sub-themes where identified: shock of getting the diagnosis, concerns about the future, the importance of information, treatment and feelings of limitations, fear of infection,changed identity and social role, finding strategies and the importance of support.

Conclusion: AML affect people´s life a lot and feelings of anxiety and worry is common, and people with AML feels that their identity changes with the disease. Support from the people around is important and also support from the nurse is valuable. It´s also important that the nurse has knowledge about hope, because it´s important that the patients feel hope despite asevere disease