Two worlds in one : the lived experiences of seven people treated with autologous bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplant

Autologous bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell transplant is one of the recent treatments to offer hope of a cure or prolonged remission for certain types of cancer. Current literature predominantly has either a biomedical focus or deals with long term survivorship issues. The ways in which this treatment option is perceived by survivors is important in providing nurses with a deeper insight and understanding with which to inform nursing care. Utilising a phenomenological hermeneutic methodology seven people who have survived this treatment, participated in sharing their stories in individual audio-taped interviews. Themes which emerged from the text include: changing concepts of self; the significance of relationships; being different from the past; and temporality.