title: A new normal?: Women's experiences of biographical disruption and liminality following treatment for early stage breast cancer.
abstract: Increasing numbers of women are surviving breast cancer, but little is known about the long-term implications of having survived a life-threatening illness and living with embodied reminders of its potential to return. Twenty-four women aged between 42 and 80 (median = 51)who had been treated for early stage breast cancer in the UK between 6 months and 29 years previously, were recruited through local media and interviewed. Analysis of their narratives revealed challenges in the post-treatment period that were conceptualised as biographical disruption and liminality. Although no longer ill, an ongoing fear of recurrence combined with embodied changes prevented a return to 'normal' i.e. a pre-cancer state in terms of health status, identity and relationships. We argue that following the biographical disruption of breast cancer, a 'new normal' entails a continual renegotiation of identities, daily lives and futures as time passes and lives evolve.
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom. Electronic address: diane.trusson@nottingham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trusson
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom. Electronic address: alison.pilnick@nottingham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pilnick
authors.affiliation: University of Nottingham, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Srila.Roy@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: Srila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roy
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Biographical disruption; Breast cancer; Liminality; Post-treatment; UK; ‘New normal’