A qualitative study of the experiences of women with metastatic breast cancer

ABSTRACT Objective: My objective was to investigate the experiences of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Method: I did a qualitative study based on interview data. Fourteen women with metastatic breast cancer were recruited into a larger study of online support group use. Participants were interviewed by phone. Results: The women indicated that they experience distress because of concerns about body image, declines in aspects of their sexual lives, and worries about the effect of stress on their illness. The stress that worries these women comes from fear of dying, fear of disease progression and debilitation, the loss of their future, and practical concerns. The women were also likely to experience a decline in daily activity after being diagnosed with metastatic disease. They become less active because of the physical symptoms of the illness and the side effects of treatments, the medicalization of their lifestyle, their desire to avoid stressful situations, the constraints imposed by their social world, and the need to maintain disability benefits. Although women are often in need of emotional and material support from others after they are diagnosed, social support can decrease, both because women find it difficult to be open about the difficulties they face and because the responses of others are not adequately supportive. Distress and declines in daily activity and social support can feed into each other to create a vicious circle. Significance of results: This paper makes a significant contribution to the literature by providing a rich description of how metastatic breast cancer affects women. Further research, with more diverse samples, is needed in this understudied area.