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Struggling with food and eating—life after major upper gastrointestinal surgery

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Abstract

Purpose

Few qualitative studies have explored patients' experience of food and eating following major upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery. The aim of this article was to explore the longer-term impact of different types of major upper gastrointestinal surgeries on people's relationship with food.

Methods

Twenty-six people having had major upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery greater than 6 months ago participated in semi-structured interviews. These interviews aimed to explore a person's physical, emotional and social relationship with food and eating following surgery. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach.

Results

Interview findings revealed a journey of adjustment, grieving and resignation. The physical symptoms and experiences of people differed between types of surgery, but the coping mechanisms remained the same.

Conclusions

The grieving and resignation people experienced suggest adjustment and coping similar to that of someone with a chronic illness. Remodeling of health services is needed to ensure this patient group receives ongoing management and support.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Janet Conti for her consultation and insight into qualitative research methods.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Road Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Sydney, Australia

    Sharon Carey & Suzie Ferrie

  2. Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Rachel Laws

  3. Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Jane Young

  4. School of Molecular Biosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Sharon Carey, Suzie Ferrie & Margaret Allman-Farinelli

Authors
  1. Sharon Carey
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  2. Rachel Laws
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  3. Suzie Ferrie
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  4. Jane Young
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  5. Margaret Allman-Farinelli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sharon Carey.

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Carey, S., Laws, R., Ferrie, S. et al. Struggling with food and eating—life after major upper gastrointestinal surgery. Support Care Cancer 21, 2749–2757 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1858-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1858-8

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