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Published on: September 7, 2016
Living in a changed female body after gynecological cancer
Ragnhild J Tveit Sekse1, Eva Gjengedal, Målfrid Råheim
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway. ragnhild.johanne.sekse@helse-bergen.no
Abstract:
In this article we elaborate on how living in a changed female body after gynecological cancer is experienced 5 to 6 years after treatment. Based on a phenomenological life-world perspective, 32 interviews with 16 women showed that changes involved dealing with unfamiliarity related to experiences of bodily emptiness, temperature fluctuations, sex-life consequences, vulnerability, and uncertainty. Findings are discussed in relation to Svenaeus's perspective on illness as an unhomelike being-in-the-body and being-in-the-world. This perspective could spur health personnel to improve patient information and dialogue and thus facilitate a process leading to more familiarity and homelikeness for patients during treatment and follow-up.
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