A Phenomenological Approach to the Pain Meaning Process

The search for meaning of adults diagnosed with and treated for cancer is fundamental, particularly understanding both physical and emotional pain. In order to comprehend this meaning process, I utilized a phenomenological approach to converse with 13 women and 2 men diagnosed with cancer and treated for cancer. Based on this study, the meaning of pain is related to the process of making meaning. First, the dawning awakening to pain and the awareness of multiple losses: the loss of function, of daily roles, and of taken-for-granted physical safety; these losses push individuals to retreat from the life they once lived. Participants’ lifeworlds are disrupted and their life shrank. Second, participant seeks to make sense of pain. At this point, communication becomes the main source of meaning. By sharing and communicating their experiences of pain, participants acknowledge the significance of those experiences, and by listening to the communicated painful experiences of others, participants validate their own experiences. This stage extends epistemology into a context of pain awakening, where genuine knowledge of pain is experienced and explained within the boundaries of science, spirituality, and the self. The result of this research project has substantial implications for understanding the complexity of how aspects of pain are interconnected and intertwined; each makes the experience meaningful, and each should not be taken lightly in future research