Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis have received little attention from Anthropology. Studied from the physiological and therapeutical perspectives, their social conundrum is also worthy of note, especially because the weakness caused by pulmonary limitation and oxygen therapy-usually prescribed during the last stages of the disease-depend on complex familial and clinical arrangements. In particular, this paper will focus on "fatigue", as the central category pointed out by the respondents that narrated their experiences with COPD. In total, 28 people were interviewed in their home-usually in the company of their caretakers-in a big Brazilian metropolis, using a semi-structured list of questions. Fatigue was the main symptom identified and referred throughout the diagnostic and therapeutic itineraries around different health services-of lower and higher complexity-of the city. Fatigue resumes, in the end, as a category that also describes the search the respondents and their families endured for treatment, hospitalization, medication and in-home oxygen therapy equipment. In the end, I discuss some of the reasons that led respondents to focus their long answers in the search for treatment, although the search took place a long time ago. Form and content of the narratives are taken into account, as suggested by Arthur Frank, and I realize that it can be more heroic to tell tales of adventure, overcoming, and courage in the past (when they searched for the first treatments); than tales of dependence, boredom, and fatigue in the present (when they have to deal with daily palliative oxygen therapy).
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases; Narrative; Fatigue