title: Waiting for surgery; living a life on hold--a continuous struggle against a faceless system.
abstract: This interpretive-phenomenological study examined the lived experience of being on the waiting list for arthroplastic surgery of the knee or hip. Interviews reveal that respondents experience suffering in different ways: illness-, caring- and life-suffering. Suffering leads to a struggle in order to have their caring needs met and the struggle is often fruitless-against a faceless enemy-"the system". No one is there to answer their plea or the frustration they experience. This in combination with their present life situation may lead to a disrupted self-image. Finding or creating meaning in suffering appears to be a crucial issue in the struggling process. Respondents who are able to preserve or create meaning in life are able to reformulate their life-world and live a full life, in spite of severe pain and disability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, Mid-Sweden University, Sundsvall. mats.sjoling@mh.se
authors.forename: R N Mats
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Sjöling
authors.forename: R N Ylva
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Agren
authors.forename: Niclas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Olofsson
authors.forename: R N Ove
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Hellzén
authors.forename: R N Kenneth
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Asplund
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000523:psychology*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D005639:Frustration; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000523:psychology; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D014850:Waiting Lists