Strategies to cope wirth osteosarcoma: narratives of the lived experience on blogs

Narratives the lived experience in first person have been used as a strategy to copie with the burden of living with osteosarcoma, a form of câncer that mainly occurs among youth and Young adults. Individuals living with osteosarcoma were interviewed for a qualitative study conducted in southern Brazil reported that expressing themselves through the use of blogs improved their self evaluated health status and made them to resignify the meanings they attributed to phenomena such as disease, health, life and death. Narrating their lived experience in first person as blog mastars gave tham more strength to fight the condition and to better handle their vulnerabilities. According to the interviews the narratives on blogs helped them to find power on self expression and to better face a crucial moment in life. The findings of this study may be of use for those facing similar conditions as well for professionals caring for patients with life threatening diseases.