'Living the tightrope': The experience of maternal ovarian cancer for adult children in Australia.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to explore and interpret the experience of maternal ovarian cancer (prior to recurrence) for adult children living in Australia. Although it is well recognised that cancer impacts upon the lives of family members, the experience of maternal ovarian cancer for adult children has been neglected in the literature. METHOD: Data for this qualitative study were collected via unstructured in-depth interviews with nine adults from three states of Australia. Participants' mothers had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer but not recurrent disease. Hermeneutic phenomenology provided a philosophical framework for data collection and analysis. RESULTS: Three themes were identified: living in a dread-full world; living in a solicitous world; and living in a terminable world. Children experienced ovarian cancer as an ongoing life-changing ontological phenomenon and Being-in-a-changed-world was revealed as the essence of the experience. CONCLUSIONS: The findings revealed that the lives of adult children are directly impacted by their mother's ovarian cancer. The themes and essence arising from the study provide a simple conceptual model with which health professionals might approach care of such children. Findings are not limited to ovarian cancer but may be directly applicable to other cancer experiences.

The diagnostic journey of ovarian cancer: a review of the literature and suggestions for practice.

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal form of gynaecological cancer. It can be difficult to diagnose, with the majority of diagnoses made at a late stage of disease. An integrative literature review was conducted to explore the ovarian cancer diagnostic journey of women and to examine the potential contribution of using a person-centred approach. Factors associated with ovarian cancer diagnostic delay were described in terms of two phases. The principles of person-centred health care (PCHC) were identified. This paper proposes utilising the principles of PCHC to improve women's experience of the diagnostic journey. Specific strategies are suggested for each delay phase to enhance the experience for women. Whilst the challenges in diagnosing the disease are likely to remain until a screening test is available, it is hoped that by implementing strategies based upon PCHC, nurses may facilitate the ovarian cancer diagnostic process and improve the diagnostic experience for women.

Symptoms and diagnostic delay in ovarian cancer: a summary of the literature.

Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death due to gynaecological cancers in developed countries. The symptoms of ovarian cancer are common female complaints, are non-specific and do not fit any easily recognisable pattern. This frequently leads to a delay in diagnosis. Until an effective screening test becomes available for this disease, increasing the education of women and clinicians regarding the symptoms of ovarian cancer must be seen as a priority. Nurses are ideally placed to disseminate information about the symptoms of ovarian cancer to the community and have a responsibility to do so. It is crucial that nurses are aware of the common symptoms and the usual diagnostic pathway in order to provide empathetic, informed nursing care. This paper draws on the results of a narrative systematic review to describe current knowledge of symptoms of ovarian cancer and describes delays women commonly experience in obtaining a diagnosis.