La experiencia de vivir con cáncer en fase avanzada: una aproximación desde la fenomenología de la práctica

Abstract

Although the incidence of cancer has recently increased, its mortality is decreasing. So each day more people are living with advanced-stage cancer. For sufferers and those close to them there are consequences in all the spheres of the human being that are related to cancer, dependence, and coping with the end of life. So living with advanced cancer can be the hardest experience they ever face while it can also be an opportunity to find meaning in life and live in coherence to their own values. So they need to feel understood by their healthcare professionals. Without a real understanding of what living with advanced cancer means for the sick person, nursing must be based on caregivers and professionals view of reality. This is a partial view which leads into the detriment of the quality of care provided. Consequently, through this study we explore the meaning of living with advanced cancer from the perspective of the sick person. That is, to question what is and what it means for the sick person the experience of living with advanced cancer. A study following the phenomenological-hermeneutical method of van Manen s phenomenology of practice was conducted to study the phenomenon as it is lived. This kind of research starts in the lived experience and returns to it by means of the phenomenological text. Through this text we not only describe and analyze the lived experience, but immediately evoke an understanding of the essence of the meaning of the experience of living with advanced-stage cancer that would not otherwise be possible to convey.