The purpose of this article is to report on an investigation of quality of life and its relationship to symptom distress, social dependency, behavior-morale, and life change. Sixty adults between the ages of 20 and 83 years with malignant melanoma were interviewed. A preliminary model and an empirical model were developed and tested. The reliability coefficient alphas ranged from 0.82 to 0.95 in scales used to measure each variable. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed statistically significant relationships among the major variables in the direction predicted. Findings lent support to the notion that human beings do realign their values, making cognitive adaptations when faced with a life-threatening disease.