Poster Presentation 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

“This is my body.  This is me.” A narrative inquiry into a young man’s navigation of his sarcoma experience.   (125767)

Maureen Ms Tan 1 , Georgia Prof Halkett 2 , Anna Dr Bosco 2 , Moira A. Prof O'Connor 2
  1. School of Population Health, Curtin University , Bentley, Western Australia , Australia
  2. Curtin, Bentley, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Australia

 

 

Purpose: This case study explores a young perspective on the changes to his life as part of navigating his sarcoma experience. Sampling and setting: Two conversational interviews were conducted with Chris who is in his mid-thirties. Photovoice, which places emphasis on the subject’s experiences, was incorporated as a tool in the interviews using participant-selected images to guide the dialogue. Procedures: The series of images act as anchors to define the interruptions to his lifeworld due to his sarcoma diagnosis. The researcher is positioned as an interlocutor for hermeneutic analysis of the conversations with the participant. Results: Three themes were constructed based on the reflective interpretations arising out of his lived experiences.  Fractures of Connection: the tension between intersubjectivity and solitude revealed the shifting terrain of identity during illness. “I didn’t facetime or WhatsApp over with video during my entire period through chemo because I looked pretty terrible, and I didn’t want to see them to see me like that…so it was a bit isolationist”. Embodied Disruptions, the second theme frames discussions about Chris’s experience of a temporal-spatial rupture, “It’s more of an over the horizon thing…you don’t think a major illness is going to hit you till later in life.  We are all invincible, aren’t we?”  The final theme, Relational Reorientations explores his views on his relationships and his being-in-the-world. “You’re still on the same path. All of us just trying to get the most we can out of what we have left”.  Conclusion: Through photovoice, the narrative themes illuminate Chris’s meaning making through his sarcoma journey as part of living his life. These findings provide relevant insights into Chris’ lifeworld and could reflect other young people’s sarcoma experiences.