Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the building of future self-body image (possible body self) at each stage by stroke survivors. In semi-structured interviews, 15 stroke survivors looked back on their experiences from disease development to the present. Data analysis employing a modified grounded theory approach revealed that, at each, stage stroke survivors simultaneously held in mind several possible body selves, such as hoped for body selves, feared body selves and probable body selves. The study also showed that stroke survivors imagined various possible body selves even at the so-called chronic stage, more than 2.5 years after disease development. Stroke survivors live in an ambivalent, changeable state colored by expectation and resignation.
