From: Factors influencing quality of life in patients with active tuberculosis
Theme 1: Diagnosis Issues |
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Sub-Theme: Symptoms |
Coughing |
   "I felt tired all the time and had a cough that just wouldn't go away". (Female) |
   "I had a really bad cough for 3 months and then I started coughing up blood. This made me scared so I went to the doctor". (Male) |
Fatigue/weakness |
   "I just felt tired all the time. I did not have the energy to do anything". (Male) |
   "I had fatigue and a continuous cough for 6 months. I thought I had persistent flu but then after a while the symptoms got so bad that I went to see a doctor". (Male) |
Fever/nightsweats |
   "I had a fever and chest pain for 1 month; I thought this was pneumonia so I went to see my family doctor". (Male) |
   "I had night sweats for several months and a fever so after a while I went to see my doctor". (Male) |
Asymptomatic |
   "I did not know I had TB, I was really surprised because I felt really good". (Male) |
   "I had a general examination and that's when I found out I had TB, otherwise I had no symptoms" (Female) |
Sub-Theme: Health Care Provision |
Delayed Diagnosis |
   "I had a friend who was sick with TB in the hospital. I asked my GP to get tested but he did not feel I needed to. Anyway, I was negative but I knew something was wrong so I asked for a chest X-ray. He did not agree at the beginning but finally he did and that's when I found that I had TB". (Female) |
Hospitalization |
   "I came out of a coma from meningitis and that's when they told me I had TB. They threw me in a TB ward at VGH which was worse then a prison. I didn't like the restrictiveness so I took off...the isolation was too much". (Male) |
   "The only thing to do at the hospital was to eat and sleep. There are no programs there and you are confined in one area". (Male) |
   "Everyone wears gloves and masks to come and see you, you feel like a leper". (Male) |
Sub-Theme: Emotional Impact |
Calm, Accepting, or Apathetic |
   "I was okay about it. I knew people who had this before and so I knew I would be in the hospital for a while but then after taking medicines I would be fine". (Male) |
   "I felt calm and confident in the medical profession". (Male) |
Scared, or Afraid |
   "I was scared of dying. My Grandma had it and she was in the sanitorium before she died of it". (Female) |
Shocked/Surprised, or Devastated |
   "I was shocked. It was such a surprise because I was working full-time as a nurse in India before immigrating here and I was healthy". (Female) |
   "I was devastated because I had another illness. I didn't feel that I deserved it". (Female) |
Worried/Concerned or Depressed |
   "I was worried about passing it on to other people". (Male) |
   "I was depressed because I had a daughter whom I could not see while in hospital". (Female) |