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Table 2 Illustrative quotes for Theme 1 on patients’ experiences and perspectives on preoperative care in colorectal cancer and abdominal surgery

From: Preparing for colorectal surgery: a qualitative study of experiences and preferences of patients in Western Canada

Theme

Examples of Quotes

Access to Help & Received Social Support

“I can’t talk about the fact that I need to go and buy adult diapers to my best friend, like I just don’t want to do that. To have a person who can hear all the nitty gritty and it doesn’t shock them, and they can empathize. That was huge” (FG1, P5)

“Somebody that’s gone through it rather than an expert (FG3, P3)

“I don’t know what I would have experienced if I hadn’t had the support from my doctors and my surgeons. They were all great” (FG1, P2)

“[M]y doctor told me when I was going in that I was going to the bathroom 10–15 times a day and bleeding like crazy, he just tells me I just got diarrhea, don’t worry about it. Two weeks later I was still doing it. So, the doctors should be taking things a little more serious to what is going on” (FG1, P3)

“[J]ust the sheer number of appointments like holy cow it’s a job to have…having cancer is a job.” (FG2, P2)

“[I]t’s not them calling us, it’s when we get the urge, we have somebody to call because often times they are calling and it’s not convenient or we are forgotten what it is that we wanted to talk about” (FG2, P4)

“[T]he accessibility. It also has to work around the time you have to get away from work if you are working. Do you have to come downtown to do it or can I go to a clinic close by? The more accessible it is the more likely you are to go.” (FG3, P3)

“Once you know what you have to deal with you just deal with it. But it’s the unknown, once you know what you got to deal with, the outcomes and stuff like that. But you might have questions that come up, and if you have a phone number that you can phone and just answer your questions, that would be good, and move on.” (FG2, P4)

“[R]eally you need somebody there to carry the mail for you” (FG2, P3)