2013 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 65-73
Abstract
Aim of study : This study aimed to understand the awareness of outpatients regarding the influence on their daily life after total extirpation with reconstruction by retrosternal substitution of the esophagus.
Method of study : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with outpatients who had undergone radical surgery for esophageal cancer. The interview results were qualitatively and inductively analyzed. Before beginning research, approval of the Ethics Committee of the affiliated organization was obtained.
Subjects : Six male patients in their 50s, 60s or 70s were the subjects of the study. One was a stage 0 esophageal cancer patient, and the other five were stage I. 7 to 14 months had passed after surgery. Each patient was interviewed once for 41.5 minutes on average.
Interview analysis : The subjects’ awareness about the influence on their daily way of life after radical surgery is summarized in the following six items. 1. The feeling of being disturbed at finding it unexpectedly difficult to do things they had been able to do without difficultly before the surgery. 2. The need to make trial-and-error efforts to adapt to changes in diet, while having a recurring feeling of unease. 3. The need to make extra effort to adjust to postoperative life in order to carry on their normal life. 4. Withdrawal into themselves because they do not feel they have recuperated enough to go about their daily lives steadily and free from care. 5. The realization they have been recuperating as they gradually adapt themselves to gain weight and build their physical strength. 6. Belief that the surgery gave them a new lease on life, and determination to find a new way of life and reconcile themselves to their postoperative physical condition, without being impatient for quick recuperation.
