Background: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer for women and every day about 20 women are stricken in Sweden. When women are diagnosed breast cancer, they experience among other fears and concerns about the disease and also about treatment. In order to provide good care and nursing care during the patient's illness nurses must have a good understanding of how patients perceive their situation.

Aim: To describe women's experiences of breast cancer.

Method: Four biographical books were analyzed with a qualitative method to match the aim of the study.

Result: At the first suspicion that it might be breast cancer, many of the women will react with denial. When it was told they experienced a fear of dying. The family had a very big importance for coping against the disease. During the period of illness, it was also important to the patients that they got a good care relationship so that they could feel safe and supported. There was a strong will to live and defeat the disease. Something that women experienced as laborious was their appearance changed in that they lost their hair and they had surgery to remove a breast.

Conclusion: In the women's illness with breast cancer many emotions occur, both positive and negative. It is important for nurses to have an understanding of what emotions these women experiences in order to help women during their illness and provide good care