23 research outputs found
A peculiar experienceâ everyday life with chronic sensory disturbances after oxaliplatin treatment for colorectal cancer - a phenomenological study
Purpose: To deepen the understanding of how survivorsâ experience and give meaning to the embodied phenomenon of chronic sensory disturbances in everyday life after oxaliplatin treatment for colorectal cancer. Methods: Data was generated by means of a semi-structured interview guide and drawings with the aim to explore eight survivorsâ lifeworld experiences. Data was analyzed through a phenomenological approach. Results: The essential meaning of sensory disturbances emerged in two main themes and four sub-themes. Theme A: âA peculiar experience that is difficult to logically understandâ with the subthemes; âAn ambiguous perception in hands and feetâ and âBeing alienated from oneâs own bodyâ. Theme B: Losing touch with the worldâ with the subthemes: âA lack of sensory contact with physical surfacesâ and âBreakdown of sensitivity in hands hampers fine motor skills and social contactâ. Conclusion: Sensory disturbances contributed to an ambiguous and discordant perception of an alienated body that was difficult to describe and affected the ability to act and connect to things and other people. Metaphors and drawings were valuable as means to verbalize and illustrate the changed body perception where the âI canâ changed into âI cannotâ. To support the embodied connection to the world new usage patterns were required
A new self-understanding as chemo sufferer - a phenomenological study of everyday life with chemotherapy induced neuropathy among survivors after colorectal cancer
PURPOSE: To explore the essential meaning of how sensory disturbances caused by Oxaliplatin influence self-understanding and freedom to live an everyday life among survivors after colorectal cancer. METHODS: Data was generated by means of a semi-structured individual interview with eight survivors after colorectal cancer who continued to experience chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy at least one year after completing chemotherapy with Oxaliplatin. Data analysis was guided by existential phenomenology and descriptive life-world research. RESULTS: The essential meaning was structured by four constituents. 1) An unpleasant fluctuating sensation which is impossible to ignore, 2) Breaking through of noise and pain despite struggling to keep them at bay, 3) Continuously feeling ill despite being cured, and 4) Bodily constraints that impact self-understanding and limit enjoyment of life. CONCLUSION: The survivors used distraction to keep the sensory disturbances at bay but were forced to adapt to a new self-understanding as sufferers after chemotherapy despite being cured of their cancer disease. This way of being-in-the-world was understood by survivors, their families and healthcare professionals as a necessary price to pay to be alive. However, marked as sufferer after chemotherapy, the participantsâ everyday style of experience and life revealed as an ill health condition, which limited their ability to accomplish everyday activities as before and their freedom to realize their potentialâthe âI canâ
Pentraxin-3 as a Marker of Advanced Atherosclerosis Results from the Bruneck, ARMY and ARFY Studies
PubMed ID: 22319633This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited