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A new normal?: Women's experiences of biographical disruption and liminality following treatment for early stage breast cancer

Trusson, Diane; Pilnick, Alison; Roy, Srila

A new normal?: Women's experiences of biographical disruption and liminality following treatment for early stage breast cancer Thumbnail


Authors

Alison Pilnick

Srila Roy



Abstract

Increasing numbers of women are surviving breast cancer, but little is known about the long-term implications of having survived a life-threatening illness and living with embodied reminders of its potential to return. Twenty-four women aged between 42 and 80 (median 1/4 51)who had been treated for early stage breast cancer in the UK between 6 months and 29 years previously, were recruited through local media and interviewed. Analysis of their narratives revealed challenges in the post-treatment period that were conceptualised as biographical disruption and liminality. Although no longer ill, an ongoing fear of recurrence combined with embodied changes prevented a return to ‘normal’ i.e. a pre-cancer state in terms of health status, identity and relationships. We argue that following the biographical disruption of breast cancer, a ‘new normal’ entails a continual renegotiation of identities, daily lives and futures as time passes and lives evolve.

Citation

Trusson, D., Pilnick, A., & Roy, S. (2016). A new normal?: Women's experiences of biographical disruption and liminality following treatment for early stage breast cancer. Social Science and Medicine, 151, 121-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.011

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 8, 2016
Online Publication Date Jan 12, 2016
Publication Date 2016-02
Deposit Date Apr 25, 2016
Publicly Available Date Apr 25, 2016
Journal Social Science & Medicine
Print ISSN 0277-9536
Electronic ISSN 0277-9536
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 151
Pages 121-129
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.011
Keywords UK; Breast cancer; Biographical disruption; Liminality; Post-treatment; ‘New normal’
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/978710
Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616300119
Contract Date Apr 25, 2016

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