Experience of people with advanced cancer faced with the impossibility of cure: a phenomenological analysis

Abstract

Objective: To understand the experience of people with advanced-stage cancer given the impossibility of curing the disease. Method: A research based on the Heideggerian phenomenology conducted with 11 people with advanced-stage cancer. Data was collected between November 2015 and March 2016 through an open interview. Results: From the understanding of the reports, three themes emerged: Finding the inevitable possibility of death; Finding oneself through anguish and suffering; Seeking to transcend the existential anguish given the possibility of death. Conclusion and implications for practice: Experiencing incurability or re-experiencing cancer gives patients feelings of apprehension, fear, and frustration. However, suffering causes them to reflect on life and to set out on a new path, founded, above all, on spirituality. The need to accept the “Being” in its human totality is evident, considering its doubts and apprehensions, transcending its physical needs and entering into its biopsychosocial world.

Significados Da Morte Para Adultos Com Câncer Assistidos Em Um Hospital Oncológico Do Sul Do Brasil

“…O significado da morte se caracteriza, em alguns estudos, para o paciente com câncer, como um processo que é bom, quando é o resultado de uma morte confortável, rápida, independente e com sofrimento minimizado, bem como quando mantêm as relações sociais intactas 18,25 , o que nem sempre ocorre. Consequentemente, ela ainda desperta os mais diversos sentimentos, pensamentos e emoções 10 , principalmente em pessoas jovens como as do estudo, que em sua maioria possuem filhos, são casadas e sentem que têm muito a viver.…”

“…No Brasil, a estimativa de 2020 foi de 309.230 casos novos em homens e 316.140 em mulheres, contabilizando 16.137 óbitos em homens por cânceres de traqueia, brônquios e pulmões, enquanto, nas mulheres, a mortalidade maior foi por câncer de mama, chegando aos 16.724 óbitos 9 . Pela sua alta incidência e mortalidade, o câncer se mantém ligado à ideia de morte, ainda um tabu na sociedade 10 .…”

Assessment of total pain in people in oncologic palliative care: integrative literature review

“…It leads to a loss of quality of life and a perspective of finitude, requiring an interdisciplinary approach with qualified and specialized care. 4 – 6 …”

Death in the Hospital: The Witnessing of the Patient with Cancer

“…Anxiety, sadness, feelings of frustration and helplessness [1,2] may appear after the diagnosis of cancer, which in the social imaginary is associated with a death sentence. [3,4] Increasing cancer incidences in recent years and its high mortality rate may justify it, for the disease is the second leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for about 9.9 million deaths in 2020. [5,6] Throughout illness and treatment, the cancer patient may need hospitalisations [7] to control and remit the disease and rehabilitate health.…”