Abstract
Physical disease, like cancer, can be perceived as a psychological crisis. Part of this crisis concerns changes in the body. The aim of this study was to describe the phenomenon "body experience" with special attention to "body reliance" among women with cancer. Participants were 10 women with different cancer diagnoses who had been under oncological medical care or were receiving treatment to palliate cancer symptoms. All were scheduled to begin physiotherapeutic rehabilitation. Semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed from a phenomenological-hermeneutical point of view. Cancer caused a radical change on many levels. A new sensitivity to bodily signals developed, which could be related to insecurity associated with the disease and the treatment. Many worried greatly about a recurrence. This was related to a questioning of trust in the body and in life. There was an existential dimension in listening to the body's signals: the body was transformed into a messenger in a wide sense. It was meaningful to investigate the cancer experience from a bodily perspective. The results indicate that it can be helpful to communicate with the patient regarding body experience in cancer rehabilitation.
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