Feelings Experienced by Women Undergoing Mastectomy

The diagnosis of breast cancer brings with it the feeling of impotence and fear, because in addition to being a stressful fact for women, it also means psychological, physical, social and sexual changes, since there is a series of transformations in the organism, in addition to causing threat of mutilation of the breast. It is considered that one of the sequelae that most afflict women comes from mastectomy, so there was a need to study about the experience and feelings caused by mastectomy in women's sexuality. This is a descriptive, exploratory study with a qualitative approach, conducted with eight mastectomized women. Bardin's content analysis was used to explore the empirical data collected. Among the results obtained, two categories were evidenced, namely: The feelings experienced when being informed about the need for partial or total breast removal, and Feelings related to sexual life with your partner and the woman's self-esteem after mastectomy. In the first category, there are several reports on the loss of femininity, feelings of anguish and anxiety related to the surgical procedure, fear of being abandoned, feelings of denial and fear of death. The second category showed that the partner's support during treatment is paramount. In addition, there were reports of shame of the body after the surgery, as well as difficulties with self-acceptance and fear of the partner's reaction. Others also reported difficulty in the first sexual intercourse and perception of feelings of rejection on the part of the partner.