Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore and interpret the experience of maternal ovarian cancer (prior to recurrence) for adult children living in Australia. Although it is well recognised that cancer impacts upon the lives of family members, the experience of maternal ovarian cancer for adult children has been neglected in the literature. MethodData for this qualitative study were collected via unstructured in-depth interviews with nine adults from three states of Australia. Participants' mothers had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer but not recurrent disease. Hermeneutic phenomenology provided a philosophical framework for data collection and analysis. ResultsThree themes were identified: living in a dread-full world; living in a solicitous world; and living in a terminable world. Children experienced ovarian cancer as an ongoing life-changing ontological phenomenon and Being-in-a-changed-world was revealed as the essence of the experience. ConclusionsThe findings revealed that the lives of adult children are directly impacted by their mother's ovarian cancer. The themes and essence arising from the study provide a simple conceptual model with which health professionals might approach care of such children. Findings are not limited to ovarian cancer but may be directly applicable to other cancer experiences.
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