Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
‘If you have a breast operation, you can say breast. It’s a nice word
isn’t it? And bowels are something everybody has, and yet nobody
wants to talk about bowels so much’ (17).
In the post-discharge phase isolation was discussed in both a social
and physical context driven by the fear of faecal incontinence.
Participants in these first weeks after surgery did not display
sufficient confidence in their bowel function to stray far from their
home environment. Thome, Dykes, Gunnars and Hallberg (2004)
described such restrictions, in relation to cancer generally, as a
constriction of available ‘lived space’ by limited bodily capacities,
and the loss of such space that had formerly been taken for granted
sometimes became difficult to handle. Whilst accepting that this
was a consequence of bowel resection, it was also source of
frustration for many of the participants, given that, at this stage,
they did not know how long their erratic bowel patterns and
impaired sensation would persist.
Another aspect for many of the participants was the physical loss of
complete control of bowel function in the post-operative and postdischarge
phases. The loss of control of such bodily functions is
intensely personal but the significance attached to such physical
experiences of the body is informed by the social categories
through which it is known (Rozmovits and Ziebland, 2004). Hence
the experience was perceived as being socially unacceptable,
distressing, humiliating, undignified and intensely embarrassing.
You do spend a lot of time in the toilet because you are not sure if
you’re going to have your bowels open or pass wind. If I feel that
way inclined I will go to the toilet just in case. I have had one little
accident since I have been home and that was that feeling. I was
in the kitchen doing the washing up. My husband had popped out
to do some shopping and I thought I would just do this and so the
feeling came and I let the wind go. Unfortunately a little bit more
came away and I thought oh my good gracious, I thought, thank
goodness my husband is not here. And that is the only accident I
have had, so as you say, it was best sort of popping to the toilet
just in case’ (15).
The findings highlight the sensitive nature of this form of cancer
over less personal forms of the disease. Elimination issues were
very much an area of concern for all participants and at times a
cause of great anxiety and embarrassment associated with the fear
of loss of personal dignity
Conclusions
This study highlighted both the common and unique aspects of the
experience but most importantly reveals that even the common
aspects are experienced in a unique way. A strong feature of the
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