The study aimed at understanding the meaning of the disease experience for the ostomized people with cancer and the changes on their identity. With a qualitative approach based on the methodological referential of the oral history of life, we have accompanied the subjects during one year, from the moment of hospitalization. During that period, a series of five interviews were performed with each subject. The description and analysis of the evolution were based on the Model of Constellation of the Disease proposed by Morse and Johnson. The analysis showed that, after the deep impact caused by the disease and the permanent ostomy, the subjects begin a new process of realizing their identities, which includes a rediscovery of their place in life.
Neoplasms; Chronic disease; Ostomy; Qualitative research
