Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Dissertation_Tetteh_Final.pdf (1.25 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Stories of Teal: Women's Experiences of Ovarian Cancer

Tetteh, Dinah A
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1463061941

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Communication Studies.
This dissertation explores the lived experiences of ovarian cancer. I used feminist ethnographic methods of in-depth interviews and focus groups to collect data from 28 ovarian cancer survivors in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan. The concepts of social support, uncertainty in illness, and intersectionality are used to understand women’s experiences of the disease and their quality of life post-treatment. My grounded theory analysis shows the ovarian cancer experience as a process involving three phases including (not)making sense, owning the experience, and becoming a survivor. The phases are neither linear nor distinct, and each presents unique challenges to survivors, helping shape how they make meaning and communicate about their experiences. I identify managing uncertainty as the core variable in the ovarian cancer experience; uncertainty is high at diagnosis, plateaus during treatment, heightens again at the end of treatment, and remains in the backgrounds of women’s lives as they navigate treatment aftereffects and/or recurrences. The ovarian cancer experience is influenced by women’s age, religion, socioeconomic status, level of available social support, stage of disease, and treatment protocol. These factors work through and with each other to impact women’s meaning making about the disease. This research helps demystify the ovarian cancer experience and puts human faces on the disease. It also provides a deeper understanding about the factors that influence women’s experiences of ovarian cancer and the communicative strategies they use to determine their experiences.
Sandra Faulkner, Ph. D. (Advisor)
Apollos Nwauwa, Ph. D. (Other)
Radhika Gajjala, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
Lisa Hanasono, Ph. D. (Committee Member)
152 p.
Communication; Health; Health Care; Womens Studies
Lived Experience; Ovarian Cancer; Communication; Women Health; Feminist Studies; Uncertainty in Illness; Social Support

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Tetteh, D. A. (2016). Stories of Teal: Women's Experiences of Ovarian Cancer [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1463061941

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Tetteh, Dinah. Stories of Teal: Women's Experiences of Ovarian Cancer. 2016. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1463061941.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Tetteh, Dinah. "Stories of Teal: Women's Experiences of Ovarian Cancer." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1463061941

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1463061941
425
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.