Women's experiences of 'being diagnosed' with a long-term illness

Aims, In this paper we share women's storied accounts of 'being diagnosed' with a long-term illness. The purpose of the paper is to raise awareness of health professionals that receiving a medical diagnosis is a potentially c alamitous event, challenging self-identity. Background. The three authors were involved in three separate inquiries whi ch explored women's experiences of living with illness. The authors realize d that 'being diagnosed' was a common memorable event for the women across the inquiries. The literature around receiving a diagnosis wits scarce. Design. This paper is the result of secondary analysis of data from three d ifferent projects where we researched women living with long-term illness. In this paper, we focus on the experience of 'being diagnosed' as we share and show women's perceptions of receiving 3 medical diagnosis. Findings. Receiving 3 medical diagnosis of a long-term illness was a memora ble event in the women's lives. Many women felt alone with their illness, o ften without adequate information to find meaning in the relationship betwe en their familiar self and their new identity as a woman living with illnes s. They felt vulnerable and lost as they tried to understand the meanings a nd consequences that the diagnosis held for their present and their future. Informational needs may be specific and individual. For many, receipt of a diagnostic label was mc,momentous and should not be underestimated, despit e the initial feeling of chaos, many women felt validated. Conclusion. Receiving a medical diagnosis is one event where health care pr ofessionals could be on standby. It is important to take the woman's articu lation of the event seriously. Open, genuine communication, with willingnes s on behalf of the health professional to listen would be affirming for wom en who are coming to terms with the diagnosis of a chronic illness.