Abstract
African American women have a greater number of aggressive cancer treatments and higher incidence of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema (BCRLE) than Caucasians. BCRLE cannot be cured and the treatment requires patients to make considerable lifestyle changes and maintain daily and lifelong care to decrease the swelling and prevent exacerbations.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among African American women [1,2]
Themes included: (1) Living with Breast Cancer-related Lymphedema caused a private condition to become public, (2) Enduring the Unexpected (3) Diminished Perceptions of Self Image, (4) Feeling Triumphant: God, church, family, friends, and significant others were acknowledged as key support systems, and (5) Distrust of physicians and other healthcare providers
In the U.S this translates into hundreds of thousands of women living with complications of such as, premature morbidity and negative quality of life resulting from breast cancer treatment (QOL) [7] are African American women [8,9]
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among African American women [1,2]. More than one in five women who survive breast cancer will develop arm lymphedema [3]. More than 2.4 million breast cancer survivors (BCS) are at risk for or are living with post-treatment breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRLE) [4,5] an accumulation of lymphatic fluid in the interstitial tissue that causes swelling, most often in the arm(s), and occasionally in the chest [6]. What has been determined is that breast cancer survivors with BCRLE have higher levels of anxiety and depression, more substantial financial burden [10], as well as greater difficulty in maintaining relationships than those without this condition [5]. African American women have a greater number of aggressive cancer treatments and higher incidence of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema (BCRLE) than Caucasians. Breast cancer survivors (BCS) with BCRLE have higher levels of anxiety and depression, more substantial financial burden as well as greater difficulty in maintaining relationships than those without this condition. Little is known about the experiences of BCRLE from the perspective of African American (AA) women
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