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[How do patients experience their body after simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation? ]
Michael Langenbach1, Dirk Stippel, K Tobias Beckurts
1Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Köln, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9, 50931 Cologne, Germany. michael.langenbach@medizin.uni-koeln.de
Unlabelled:
Simultaneous transplantation of pancreas and kidney (SPK) has become a standard procedure for type 1 diabetics with terminal kidney failure. Patients often experience SPK as a dramatic event which mobilizes a complexity of affects such as anxiety, hope, and gratitude. Patients often have fantasies regarding their bodies after transplantation which are linked to massive affects.
Methods:
We investigated 8 non-selected patients in the first year after SPK by narrative interviews to study their experiences of transplantation. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed according to Grounded Theory and ideal type analysis.
Results:
Our patients had many different private theories and fantasies regarding transplantation. Patients' experiences were centred around themes of adoption of the transplanted organs and the protection of identity and self, and could be grouped into five ideal type sets.
Conclusions:
Bodily fantasies of our patients can be interpreted as specific adaptations to coping requirements after transplantation.