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OhioLINK ETD: Tetteh, Dinah A
Stories of Teal: Women's Experiences of Ovarian Cancer
2016, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Communication Studies.
This
dissertation explores the lived experiences of ovarian cancer. I used
feminist ethnographic methods of in-depth interviews and focus groups to
collect data from 28 ovarian cancer survivors in Northwest Ohio and
Southern Michigan. The concepts of social support, uncertainty in
illness, and intersectionality are used to understand women’s
experiences of the disease and their quality of life post-treatment. My
grounded theory analysis shows the ovarian cancer experience as a
process involving three phases including (not)making sense, owning the
experience, and becoming a survivor. The phases are neither linear nor
distinct, and each presents unique challenges to survivors, helping
shape how they make meaning and communicate about their experiences. I
identify managing uncertainty as the core variable in the ovarian cancer
experience; uncertainty is high at diagnosis, plateaus during
treatment, heightens again at the end of treatment, and remains in the
backgrounds of women’s lives as they navigate treatment aftereffects
and/or recurrences. The ovarian cancer experience is influenced by
women’s age, religion, socioeconomic status, level of available social
support, stage of disease, and treatment protocol. These factors work
through and with each other to impact women’s meaning making about the
disease. This research helps demystify the ovarian cancer experience and
puts human faces on the disease. It also provides a deeper
understanding about the factors that influence women’s experiences of
ovarian cancer and the communicative strategies they use to determine
their experiences.
Sandra Faulkner, Ph. D. (Advisor)
Apollos Nwauwa, Ph. D. (Other)
Radhika Gajjala, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
Lisa Hanasono, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
Apollos Nwauwa, Ph. D. (Other)
Radhika Gajjala, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
Lisa Hanasono, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
152 p.
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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until June 01, 2020
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