Persistent extreme denial in five nurses suffering from breast cancer

Abstract

Aim: To study a group of 5 Ibo nurses who were suffering from breast cancer but showed such extreme denial of it that they totally rejected mastectomy even unto death. Methods: During a period of 16 years, mastectomy was carried out agreeably by the same surgeon on 102 Ibo women. Results: Among this cohort, five women stood out because not only were they nurses but also they totally rejected mastectomy. Their grounds centred principally on concern about self-worth, presumed incurability of cancer, mutilation implicit in surgery, doubt of correctness of biopsy report, the sufficiency of prayers, and even fear of reincarnating with one breast. Conclusion: Extreme maladaptive response may follow the diagnosis of breast cancer and the proposal of mastectomy. This requires both epidemiological and psychosocial researches.

Keywords

• breast cancer
• nurses
• extreme denial