The Lived Experience of Having a Neobladder

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of people who had a neobladder constructed. Men and women with direct and personal knowledge of the experience were interviewed. Analyses of transcribed verbatim narratives were conducted. Major and minor themes with clustered subthemes were identified. Selected themes included diagnosing cancer, detesting the idea of the bag, coping with stressful events, managing tubes and drains, responding to incontinence, keeping the neobladder healthy, and seeing cancer as a lifelong threat.