title: The loss of a mother and dealing with genetic cancer risk: women who have undergone prophylactic removal of the ovaries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to highlight some new findings from a qualitative study that have not been previously considered.
  
  
  METHODS
  The research was based on a qualitative phenomenological method. Data were collected by semi-structured individual interviews. A purposeful sample was recruited from West Norway of 14 women with a possible risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Data collection took place at least one year after prophylactic removal of the ovaries. Data from the study was analyzed according to the phenomenological method of Amedeo Giorgi.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two themes were revealed as essential factors of the interviewed women's experiences: "the loss of a mother" and "dealing with genetic cancer risk." For the most part, these two themes also appeared to be interrelated. When a mother died of ovarian cancer while her daughter was a child or a young woman, this often led to her daughter's strong desire to find an explanation for her mother's death, as well as to her efforts to undergo genetic testing and surgery to prevent cancer in her family in the future.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study indicates that women's experiences in families at risk of hereditary cancer are closely related to an understanding of their life stories, particularly their "loss of a mother," and how this influences how they deal with genetic cancer risk. Health care workers can thus help patients identify connections and establish coherence through the act of storytelling, by listening to their illness experiences as part of their life stories.
authors.affiliation: Betanien University College, Institute of Nursing and Health, Vestlundveien 19, 5145 Fyllingsdalen, Norway. Electronic address: Marie.Kvamme@betanien.no.
authors.forename: Marie Kvamme
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mæland
authors.affiliation: Betanien University College, Institute of Nursing and Health, Vestlundveien 19, 5145 Fyllingsdalen, Norway. Electronic address: Elin.Eriksen@betanien.no.
authors.forename: Elin Overaa
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Eriksen
authors.affiliation: Betanien University College, Institute of Nursing and Health, Vestlundveien 19, 5145 Fyllingsdalen, Norway. Electronic address: Oddgeir.Synnes@betanien.no.
authors.forename: Oddgeir
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Synnes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D062525:Narrative Therapy / Q000379:methods; D009664:Norway; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010052:Ovariectomy; D065286:Prophylactic Surgical Procedures; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Cancer risk; Experience; Hereditary ovarian cancer; Loss; Mother; Narrative