The impact of ablative facial cancer surgery and the affect of post-operative facial prostheses.

This thesis examines psychosocial issues experienced by participants following a
diagnosis of facial malignancy and ablative cancer surgery of the face. It
investigates how participants felt about surgery and the affect that the use of
postoperative facial prostheses had on each participant. Semi-structured
interviews were used to capture participants' experiences of treatment.
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith 2004; Smith, Flowers & Larkin
2009) was used to perform a content analysis of the data which revealed themes
and sub-themes common to all participants.
Ethical approval was granted for the inclusion of up to eight participants in the
study. Initially twenty participants were randomly selected and contacted by
letter. Thirteen individuals agreed to their inclusion in the study and eight were
randomly selected for inclusion and contacted by letter. The five individuals not
selected were contacted and thanked. Interviewing ceased after the sixth
participant had been interviewed n=6 after no new themes relative to the study
were discovered.
Some findings of the research were congruent with previous research. A
supportive partner and family group make coping easier. Professional attendants
who listen and allow individuals to talk have a positive impact. Findings specific
to this study suggest that facial prostheses are useful after ablative cancer surgery
of the face. Prostheses restore outward normality which was important for
reasons of social acceptability. However, the study found that feelings of
normality were not restored This concluded with a re-definition of normality for
disfigured patients who use a facial prosthesis to incorporate the wider context
revealed by the study.