Lived time in ovarian cancer - A qualitative phenomenological exploration

To explore lived time of women with ovarian cancer during chemotherapy.

Consensual qualitative research combined with descriptive phenomenology on a purposive sample of 9 middle-aged women (aged between 33 and 52 years, mean age 41.7) with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy in an outpatient chemo center in a clinical hospital. Patients partnered in the design of the study by reviewing the research questions.

Four essential temporal structures were uncovered, namely: 1) Explicit finitude - the vivid presence of the thoughts of one's limited lifespan and of time passing towards death. 2) Broken horizon - a sense of an overwhelming unpredictability of life that makes one living in the narrow present. 3) The paradoxes of the chemo-clock - treatment rhythm becoming a basis for the conceptualization of time while lived experience both decelerates and accelerates. 4) Happiness closed-off by regret - the past being distantiated yet present in the form of thoughts about actions that have not been accomplished and no longer can.

The research shows unsecure lived time of participants, particularly anxiety concerning premature death and fear of the future due to harsh prognosis. The proposed hybrid method of collecting and analyzing data is an example of combining phenomenological and scientific-objectifying procedures. It can lead to wider replications in different populations with respect to type and stage of the cancer and treatment.