Living in a Changed Female Body After Gynecological Cancer

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.

Acknowledgments

We thank the women who participated in the study and so generously shared their life experiences with cancer